Two messed up people
by paulaloveremus
Summary: Morgan wants to help Hodges who doesn't want anyone caring. Hodges wants to protect himself from more heart-ache. Two very very stubborn people. A typical romance story written by a newbie who thinks Modges deserves more love. Rated T for swearing and future shenanigans.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.

**A/N:** This is my first fic so the possibilities this isn't a train wreck are kind of low. Read at your own risk. I wanted to give the Morgan and Hodges couple some love so let's see what I can do about that. Please don't flame me too much about typos because English isn't my mother tongue and I have no beta.

This is a Modges romance story. I don't know just yet if I'll include other couples and/or if it will contain smut sweet smut. I'll try not to OOC the characters too much.

This story starts a week after Hodges and Elisabetta end their relationship because even though they like each other, they are incompatible.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

It had been a week since she had given advice to Hodges about marrying Elisabetta. A big part of her had wanted to tell him to call it off but she cared too much about him to ruin his chance at happiness. She had doubted the Italian beauty was being honest about not doing it just for her green card for a long while but soon she realised it was her jealousy making her think that because she knew David wasn't being a fool.

It had taken her by surprise how badly she had taken it all. She was a grown up woman for fuck's sake and she didn't have any claim on him. Still she had managed to keep it all inside and she was well on her way on giving up on him when he had to ask her if she though he was making a mistake getting married to her and even though she had given him her best advice, she couldn't stop thinking about it all once and again.

She kept replaying the scene on her head. Most times she was very happy with having being a good friend. She had been honest telling him she would support him whatever he decided because he was her best friend and she knew he was a good logical man and he would lead a very happy life with his beautiful wife and their little mini Hodges (the mental image of mini Hodges always made her smile even in mid of her despair). Other times her mind would flew wild and she would imagine very different scenarios in which she would tell him, she loved him and he'd return her feelings. It was all very romantic in a Disney kind of way except for the ones that ended up with them having sex on his desk.

She guessed she wouldn't be this frustrated if there was at least a minimal quantity of bliss on his face these days but David appeared to be even more reclusive and gloomy than ever. She had caught Nick, Greg and Henry trying to decide if they should pry and Finn of all people seemed to look away or lower her gaze every time they had to interact. She decided she would try to talk to him next shift.

* * *

But then next shift passed and the next and then the next and she didn't have the time to talk to him. Oh, she had good excuses. He had looked happier, they were super busy with a more than a decade old case that her dad and most people in the lab had worked on and she didn't want to meddle. The truth was that she was simply a coward and didn't want him to tell her they were doing great, not at least until she thought she could bear the news.

-"Damn Morgan, grow a spine"- she told herself.

So she finally managed to steer herself to the trace lab and try to establish a conversation.

-"Morgan, do you bring me some traces to work my magic on?"- he inquired as soon as she saw her entering. His normal half-smile on.

-"Actually, I was wondering if you were going to take your lunch break now and would mind if I accompanied you?"- she tried to ask as non-nonchalantly as she could.

-"Actually. I was thinking of using that time to finish something for Nick. That body of his was covered in about 30 unknown substances and since they don't know who he even is, they really need of my expertise"- he looked like the cat who had just eaten the canary.

-"Please"- she put on some puppy dog eyes- "You seemed really down last week and I've been worried".

Suddenly his demeanour changed:

-"Look, I understand that you are trying to help but as I told Nick AND Greg AND Henry, I am Okay. Look here, I'm smiling"- he put on one of the most fake smiles ever-"Now could you guys leave me work in peace?"

She didn't laugh.

-"Okay, no need for sarcastic replies"- He was just being Hodges and keeping people at bay but it still stung quite a bit- "I won't pry and I'll tell they guys not to bother you."

-"Morgan... I didn't mean..."- he seemed to have realised he had touched a nerve.

She left before he could even finish the sentence but didn't mope for too long. David hadn't been this closed off with her ever so her Hodges senses were definitely tingling. Had she really thought that? Greg and company were certainly geeking her up. She realised she would need to find what was wrong with him before actually confronting him if she didn't want more of that reflection non-sense he did.

She considered visiting Elisabetta for less than a minute (no way in hell! grrrr) and decided to question Finn who had been behaving so weirdly last week.

* * *

She decided she wan't going to let things to luck and started planing. Soon, it would be Saturday, a Saturday shift-free. If she invited Sarah and Finn to a Girls Night Out, she was sure she'd have the blood specialist hooked. Now she just had to convince Sarah Sidle and that took the promise to go to a place with a good vegetarian menu and that she would give it a go to a novel Sarah'd recently discovered to have someone to talk about it.

When she finished the paperwork on a hit and run, she hit for the showers to get ready. It had actually been quite a simple case, except for ubiquitous paperwork as they've caught the 18 year old just one street away after the poor bastard got a flat and flattened a post. The victim had also surprisingly survived so the night didn't have the depressive tinge of darker shifts.

She liked the idea of going out with her co-workers. She was getting closer to them and she'd never had much in the way of girl friends before. Still she found it hard feeling like the newbie in the place. Sarah had been there for such a long time (which came with its own type of problems as when she couldn't bring herself to tell everybody about her separation from Grissom) and Finn and Russell had each other even if their relationship had been a bit muddled at the start. That's why she really didn't want to lose Hodges who was the person she had felt most connected with, the person who had gotten her back on her feet after the kidnapping and the awfulness that came with it, but other two forces were pushing her to intervene. Her desire to protect him even if it was none of her business and those twisted dark hot feelings she felt in her stomach when she looked at him. Hot... hot mess, that's what she was right now.

The water cooled her head. Lately, it seemed she couldn't form coherent thoughts... everything ended up being about Hodges and she hated that because she wasn't an adolescent boy-crazy girl. She stepped out of the shower space, the blue tiles cold again her feet. After putting on her favourite red dressy shirt, black slacks, a silver chain and some light make up, she had made her mental plan on how to get Finn to spill and she also planned to have a great time with her two newest friends.

* * *

-"Brody, have a nice weekend"- said Gordon Shepherd, the agent in charge of the desk during day shift.

-"I sure plan to after I sleep for a few hours"- she grinned at him and thought to herself- "and buy enough hard liquor to soften Finn's tongue".


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.

**A/N:** When I want to give up on writing this story, I tell myself that no matter how terrible it is, at least I'm improving my English skills.

Three nights ago when I couldn't sleep because I had caught some nasty stomach bug (on my birthday no less), I'll spare you the details, I realised I'd forgotten to ask for feedback. I'm really inexperienced writing-wise and I'd appreciate any advice you kind readers can give me.

Also if you have any ships (het/slash/femmeslash/robots) you'd like to see in this story, please tell me in the reviews.

* * *

**Hodge's POV**

He had thought the silver lining of breaking up with Elisabetta would be living again by himself. He was a very particular man with his space, some may call him OCD but he just liked to have things done his way. It hadn't been the case. In fact he still hadn't washed the cover of her pillow because her smell, that mix of perfume whose main essence his keen nose had easily identified on their first encounter, coconut body milk and more mundane substances, made him feel not so alone. Unfortunately it also made him remember when she was last there, in the end, the sense of smell is the most powerful motivator of memory, specially of strong emotional ones.

She had come to pick up the rest of her stuff and he had wanted to see her one last time but it had been so awkward. He had prepared everything in a small box and both tried to do some small conversation but they didn't know what to say to each other anymore and he had retreated to their... well his bedroom to give her some space to look through her things. From there he heard her crying softly and pictured her face with tears messing up her carefully applied make up. She would be covering her mouth to stifle her sobs so he would not hear and be with the back to the door so she could have time to compose herself if he entered. It killed him but he wasn't going to go to console her because that wasn't what Elisabetta wanted. She wanted to be strong and he could give her that.

Several minutes after the sobbing and then the sniffling subsided, he came out to a smiling Elisabetta, re-applied make up in those lovely Italian features and barely any signs of her distress. She kissed him in his cheek.

-"David, I know that our time together has been important to us both and I know this is hard but please find yourself someone. Someone who will consider you their everything and will want the same things as you. Someone who laughs at that sardonic humour of yours. Someone who will want to kiss that cute naso of yours"- she finished the sentence in a playful tone but the sorrow could be heard underneath- "I know you well David and I feel like you can be molto ostinato and close off to people. I want you to have a good happy life. Ciao il mio amore".

The words got stuck on his throat but he managed to return the sentiment and they parted ways. Her words felt more like a curse than an encouragement or even more like prophecy of the next few weeks. He certainly didn't want to fall in love again, to connect with another human being like that, to feel hurt like this again. What he wouldn't do to return to be the stoic asshole that people used to go out of their way not to meet, when he would feel so much important than the other lab workers and was so pompous that no one befriended him. If no one was near him, no one could abandon him like Wendy and now Elisabetta. He didn't mind being alone before, right?

* * *

He had decided not to tell anyone although by the way Finn looked at him like she had just killed his favourite hamster and flushed it down the toilet, he sensed she knew about it and she felt partially responsible. The reason he kept quiet, even after they started pestering him to open up, was that he didn't want their pity. He had gotten quite close with his former rival Sanders and also with co-lab rat Henry in the last years and he was sure that they would try to commiserate with him, because they were compassionate people, and they would say the typical platitudes about being a lot of other fishes in the sea and that she was losing on, but they wouldn't be surprised about this development. He couldn't fault them for that either, he didn't understand either how someone would want to be with him, put up with his "adorable quirks" as his mother use to call his habits and Wendy and his previous girlfriends had all abandoned him. He felt himself unlovable. Still he didn't want to look at them and see those thoughts reflected back at him. They were pretty persistent too and he didn't know how many invitations for drinks, dinner, breakfast or lunches he could reject before they threw him an intervention. Sigh...

After nearly a week, he finally had had enough and started barking at whoever tried to interrogate him and Morgan was the unfortunate victim. He felt like an absolute jerk. She was his best friend, and she was always so nice and thoughtful and he had been an ass. He imagined how hurt he would have felt if she had rejected his help after her kidnapping (and she would actually have had a good reason for that what with the trauma and all). He wanted to apologise immediately, maybe even tell her about Elisabetta, although he didn't really wanted to talk about it yet, but she was out of the door at the speed of lightning.

-"Damn, damn, damn"- he said to himself and after a few more he resolved to at least maintain a happy façade at work so Morgan could stop worrying about him, he certainly didn't deserve it, and people backed off of helping him. Why couldn't they live his sorry ass alone?

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

She wasn't sure what was Finn's poison of choice so she bought some whisky brands like Dyc and J&B, vodka, white and red wine and some more stuff. Boy, she was going to have her alcohol cupboard full to the brims. They wouldn't think she was an alcoholic if the bottles were still full she thought half-jokingly.

At first they had planned to go to dinner and then clubbing but Morgan thought a club would be too noisy to really have a conversation and convinced the others that after eating, some drinks and conversation relaxing in her house were just what they needed after such a busy week.

The restaurant that Sarah had picked was excellent and the Parmesan Eggplant and Vegetable Lasagne they shared were scrumptious. She wasn't about to give up eating meat but if vegetarian food was this good, she could understand how they could not miss eating pork, poultry or beef.

They talked about the last case each had been working before deciding to move on to her house.

* * *

-"I didn't know what you guys wanted to drink so I've bought a bit of everything. Don't worry about driving back. You can stay here overnight. I have enough fluffy PJs"-she chuckled at the funny face Sarah did at the fluffy pyjamas suggestion.

She opened the door and they enter her apartment. She had managed to get it neat and tidy putting all that she didn't have time to order or clean inside her closet. After the ritual tour of her small living space and some "oh"s and "ah"s and "how nice"s Sarah took the apricot orange armchair and Finn and herself took each a corner of the deep red sofa she had gotten from Ikea.

-"What do you want to drink?-she offered them.

-"What do you think about Margaritas?"- suggested Finn and Morgan's eyes shone with happiness at the mention of the Tequila drink.

-"I'm in"- she said in a hyper manner while she jumped out of her seat to get the salt, glasses and other implements needed. Sarah just chuckled at her eagerness and nodded in affirmation. With the glasses salted and the tequila poured, they started sipping pretty good Margaritas if she could say so herself.

They started gossiping a bit about Henry's new girlfriend, how David was worried his wife wanted to adopt a kitten because of his allergies and imagining him doing autopsies sneezing all the way. Morgan suggestions they played Uno or Jenga weren't well received until the second round of Margaritas were halfway done and then their lack of coordination moving the wooden blocks made it pretty funny even if they weren't already tipsy. They made a penalty to drink a big gulp every time someone collapsed the small construction and Morgan had counted on having a lot of experience playing to keep sober... well at least more sober than them. The plan was a bit of a bust because Sarah Siddle was beating them completely. Actually she didn't appear tipsy at all and her movements were very precise. Finn lost the most but Morgan lost his fair share too.

-"Not fair Sarah. You are too good"- she whined.

-"Who was that wanted to play? I am just simply the best"- she put on a fake superior smirk.

-"Oh, you"- Finn and Morgan teamed to hit her with the cushions. The three were soon giggling and out of air. Then they returned to their seats there was a comfortable silence while they got back to their seats and sipped at their nth drinks.

-"What's happening with Hodges?"-blurted Morgan without thinking to phrase it in a better way or simply mind the moment- "I mean, he is being kind of sad lately but he isn't talking about it with anyone".

-"That's true. Nick told me they had tried inviting him for drinks and other stuff but he keeps rebuffing them with excuses".

-"I really haven't noticed much"-there was a lisp in Finn's voice. Morgan didn't know if it was for the alcohol or for having to lie.

-"That's bullshit"- obviously tipsy-drunk Morgan wasn't smooth- "you've been avoiding him like he's got the bubonic plague and you can't even look him directly in the eyes".

-"Why would I want to be a lot of time around him or look him in the eye. He is not my type"- she tried to deflect with a joke.

Sarah was looking from one to the other curious as to what must have been going under the scenes to get to this conversation.

-"I know that you know what's happening with Hodges so please tell me"

-"What does it have to do with you? It's something private and if he doesn't want to share, it's his business".

-He is my best friend a he's suffering. I know him very well and I know that he can be completely pig-headed and refuse help but if I know what's happening, maybe there's something I can do"- she pleaded to Finn.

-"Okay"- she sighed heavily- "I warn you that I'm not a hundred percent sure that I'm right. Do you remember when Elisabetta came to the lab because I advised Hodges to take a more active role in planning the wedding?

-"Yes"- Of course, the vivid memory of her conversation with Hodges and how she had told him to marry the person without whom he couldn't live sometimes haunted her.

-"Well, I entered when they were in the middle of a discussion about the desserts and opened my big mouth and told them they were similar to my ex-husband and me. What a better thing to say to a couple about to marry!"- she seemed to be a minute away from banging her head against a wall- "They also talked about how she wanted to bring their kids in Italy and how he didn't want to abandon his career. From everything I saw and the subsequent gloominess of a certain lab technician, I think the wedding has been called off and they've split up because they were incompatible and I feel kind of responsible even if it's probably best they realised it before marrying".

-"What?!"- she couldn't believe what she was hearing and the emotions that were flowing through her quickly changing from one to the next got her totally in a shock state. She was bewildered at the unexpected news, then sad for Hodges but at the same time elated which made her confused because she didn't understand why she got so happy at the news since Elisabetta hadn't been a bad person looking for a green card and angry at herself for feeling good about her friends despair. Finally she got furious with him for not telling her when she had confided in him when she had always done so when she was in a crisis, the alcohol fuelling her feelings.- "How could he not tell me? Damn him"- Then the alcohol and the emotional roller-coast of having so many emotions in so few seconds took its toll and she got a bit weepy-"It's not fair. I've never shunned him when I was feeling vulnerable like when my father was shot"

-"Oh, girl"- Finn hugged her.

-"Come on, you've drunk enough. Tell me where are those fluffy PJs you were talking about before"- Sarah said taking the glasses to the kitchen.

They consoled her, perhaps a bit suspicious about why this was affecting her so much and with Finn more in the way than actually helping and after preventing her from drunk calling Hodges they put her to sleep and got a taxi together.

She kept thinking back and forth about how to get back at Hodges, how to help him get back on his feet after Elisabetta or how to forget about him forever. She fell asleep before deciding on anything.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.

**A/N:** The next 40 days are going to be hell on Earth for me because I'll be super busy studying for my exams but for the few readers that might like my story, I hope to be able to keep updating once a week on Thursdays. Wish me luck!

Anyway, please review to tell me where I can do better and any suggestions on which ships would you like to see developed on this fic apart from Modges be they het, slash or femmeslash. All the internet cookies go to my two reviewers Dolcefarniente and ElislinCSI. Thanks for taking the time to encourage me.

This is actually take 2 on this chapter since my sweet sweet so adorable I want to kill her cat Azuki shut off my laptop before I could save it. Who knows, maybe it will come out better?

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

She was tied and gagged with a filthy rag. The room was dark and she was seated in a metallic chair that clanked whenever she moved. She was scared of doing so much noise he would return and kill her but she wanted to get out. Her eyes were getting used to the dark and she saw the silhouette of a body resting against the wall. Something was very wrong about the shape. Adrenaline rushed through her as she realised it had no head. She desisted of being cautious and started fighting against her restraints with all her force. They didn't budge and all she got was to fall to the floor making a loud bang and lacerating her hands against the hard surface. Then she heard it. Fast steps coming, more like angry quick strides. Fear gave way to panic as she started to hyperventilate trying to arch her head to get a good look at the door. Her heartbeats rang strong in her ears stifling the sound of the strong steps that grew nearer and nearer. She felt light-headed but she wasn't going to pass out, she couldn't do anything if she passed out. Pure fright almost made her heart stop when the door started to open. When the gun appeared in her vision she finally woke up screaming and trembling violently.

It took her five minutes to realise it was a nightmare and that the thumbing in her head wasn't because someone had hit her but because of how much she had drunk the night before. She was on the floor where she always seemed to end when she got up from one of the truly horrible ones. These nasty dreams had started a week after she left the hospital and were pretty regular. She tried to minimise them because who wouldn't have nightmares after being kidnapped and almost killed. The weird thing would be to not have them she told herself as a way to rationalise not going to a doctor or talking seriously about it with his dad. She didn't want them thinking she was too affected by the events and that she should see a psychiatrist or worse that they would decide she was best on desk duty out of the field for her own safety. Besides, she was sure that with enough time, the problem would fix itself on its own.

Morgan picked herself from the floor and sluggishly made her way to the medicine cabinet on her bathroom for an aspirin. She swallowed it with a big gulp of water before realising how very thirsty she was and refilling the glass again. Satiated she made her way to her queen sized bed with one of the worst headaches of her life and looked at the alarm clock. It was only 7:34 AM and she didn't even have a reason to get up early in the morning so she tried massaging her temples until the pain went away enough so that she could go back to slumberland.

As if to unnerve her, her next dream would be one that would vex her even more.

She had just solved her 100th case and was celebrating becoming a CSI Level 3 with everybody in the dinner across the Labs. Everybody was there congratulating her. They even had brought a really delicious looking strawberry cheesecake, her favourite. She should have been incredibly happy by all measures but David Hodges wasn't there and, in that stupid logic that dreams often have, she knew that if she didn't leave the party in that same instant and find him, she'd never see him again.

She excused herself with D.B. and the rest who seemed pretty let down she was leaving her own party but she said she had to do something important, more important than anything else in the world- wow melodramatism. She went to his lab and he wasn't there. She searched one by one all of the rooms and when she was about to give up she found a door she never remember seeing.

Upon entering, she saw Hodges leaning against a bureau in what looked like a giant storage room filled with the most strange things from football equipment, piles of old books, a complete kitchen set, tons of little model airplanes, some machines she couldn't even recognise and a hundred equally baffling objects.

-"Hello Morgan. What took you so long? Welcome to my sanctum sanctorum"- Hodges said in his most adorably snobby impersonation- "I've been waiting for you. I've been waiting since the moment we first talked and I learned you were special"-his voice passed from playful to seductive-"since the moment we first joked together, you don't know what your laugh does to me Miss Brody"- his tone grew hungrier and Morgan's knees weaker- "since the moment you kissed me and melted me completely with your sweet mouth and I was fool enough to let it go"- he extended his hand to her- "and now you are finally here Morgan".

Questions like what was this place or what was going on flew from her mind or maybe they were never even there from the start. His words had inflamed something inside her and she ignored his hand preferring to grab him by the lapels of his lab coat and kiss him tentatively at first as if scared he would actually decide he really didn't want her. He reciprocated the kiss, tracing her cheek with one hand while with the other he embrace her bringing her closer to him. She deepened the kiss eager to really taste him and play hide and seek with his tongue. He moaned into her mouth and she felt herself burn with desire.

They separated to get some much needed air and Hodges started nibbling at her ear and playfully whispering her in detail how aroused she made him. From her ear, he descended to her neck giving it sensual licks and small bites that had her purring like a satisfied feline.

-"Uhmm Hodges"

-"It's David. Call me David or I'll stop"- he teased her.

Her befuddled brain didn't seem to be able to understand normal human language at the moment.

He started unbuttoning her shirt very very slowly while he gave her a smug smirk.

That was enough to make her brain catch up with the situation. She gave him a playful slap in the arm for his cheekiness.

-"You are a tease David"- she told him while embracing him to communicate how much she truly liked him.

Soon 'though the tender moment gave way to lust again and she was taking off his lab coat and shirt in the quest to feel more of his skin. Also it wasn't fair that he was completely dressed when she was only with her bra. She had seen him without his shirt once or twice but it still made her heart race a little faster to see his taut torso.

They kissed at times gently, other passionately and most of them like they didn't have any time left on this Earth. His kisses started going downwards her collarbone and he asked for permission to unclasp her lace bra which she gave more than willingly wanting to feel those lips encircling her nipples. The fact that she could feel how hard he was under those trousers only making her more eager. He didn't fumble with the clasp and got it open fast enough.

And just when he was lowering that hot luscious mouth, she woke up.

Soon it all came to her, the memories of last night, of waking up in the middle of the nightmare, the headache of biblical proportions and still she was aroused as hell but before she could even think about doing something about that, she glanced at the clock and realised that with the traffic in Las Vegas, she had half an hour to get showered, dressed up and ready to go if she wanted to get to work on time. She chugged some aspirin, probably more than the doctor recommended and got in the shower, a cold shower for her sexually frustrated body. Meanwhile she kept thinking about both dreams, their meaning and what should she fucking do.

-"Damn David Hodges"- she thought.

* * *

**Hodge's POV**

That Saturday, Hodges had managed to escape the invitation to a friendly football game with Nick and Greg. Poor Henry hadn't been lucky enough to think a quick excuse to get out of it but Hodges had said he needed to accompany his mother shopping and they had commiserated about how awful it was to go clothes shopping with women. He actually found it far more appealing than a sports match but he wasn't going to tell them that and give them more ammunition against. And anyway it was actually just a lie to get the day for himself.

If he wanted to get better and stop worrying Morgan, he needed to move on.

As soon as he got home, he gathered all the bed clothing, towels and anything that smelled of Elisabetta and took it to the washer room in the building. Several quarters of dollars later, everything gave off a lemony scent. He spend the rest of the day combing the house of things that remembered him of her and putting them in a box or throwing them away. That night he prepared himself some comfort food with lots of butter and lots of chips and watched the first season of "Three's Company" which always put him on a good mood.

The next morning he felt a bit sad but, not willing to admit it, when it was time to go to work he put on his best clever smug bastard smile and took his car to work.

-"Today is going to be a great day"- he said out loud just before getting off the car and into the lab.

* * *

**A/N:** I tried to make the dream sequence a bit loony and weird but I hope that didn't detract from the sexiness. Was it hot? Should I up the rating to M or is it still pretty tame? Please review =)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.

**A/N:** Here I am again procrastinating instead of studying. Yay me! *headdesk* On other topics that don't make me cringe, my muse has been eluding me. I know the general direction I want this tale to take but I'm having trouble filling in the gaps. Also, I want to do something more with the side characters of this little "romantic comedy" (although it has little humour and not enough romance at the moment) so if you have any ideas or suggestions like... I don't know... I want more of Greg, I want to see D.B.'s marriage collapsing (more than it already is on the show I mean) and that he falls in love with Fin, I want Catherine Willows or Grissom to be back and get in on with Sara/Nick/Henry/... I want someone to have/adopt/foster a kid, I want Warrick to return as a zombie and start the next Zombapocalypse or whatever and I'll see if it fits with the story and if I like it enough to include it.

I want to thank everybody who takes the time to read and specially to austexfan, sarahw78 and ElislinCSI for reviewing, following and/or favouriting my story. I love all of you!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Her brain felt like it had made a trip from a concrete mixer to a smoothie machine and then back. She knew it was probably more for the lack of quality rest these last months despite having spent all day in bed than because of the alcohol consumed so many hours ago but she still made a mental note to swore off margaritas.

She actually had made it to the job in record time. She had taken a quick shower, put on a black tee with letters in Japanese or Chinese in a cool font, an azure blouse, dun jeans and some comfy sandals and out she went. There was no line when she picked up a veggie burger with extra chips and some coffee and she put on the classic rock radio while she munched on it on the way to work. She got a hat trick of green lights and she was soon inside the well known walls of Las Vegas Crime Lab.

She saw some familiar faces of the swing shift CSIs that were preparing to leave to get some much needed sleep and she made her way to take a look to see what was on the menu tonight.

Some cases would probably come later but there was already a robbery and a double murder. Working this job certainly made you lose any sensation of safety you could have or of the invulnerability young people were supposed to feel. Morgan couldn't quite remember if she had ever being so naive as to think she couldn't really die but she did feel she had lost something since the kidnapping. She wasn't the same, she was harder but she also felt she had become more twisted. Her nightmares were getting darker and she didn't know what to do and that frightened her. What if this made her like her captors? Still, that train of thought didn't lead to anywhere good so she dropped it. She was scared of what she might discovered if she or anyone else for that matter kept digging.

She decided to go to the break room to relax until the rest of the gang arrived. When she passed by the Trace Lab she saw Hodges and Henry lively discussing about something and the erotic dream and everything else came to the forefront of his thoughts. She stared at his back with eyes like daggers for a second or two before moving on and if looks could kill, the paramedics would be late for this one... so so late.

She knew he hadn't told everyone about the cancellation of his wedding because he didn't want their pity but she wasn't everyone and she was royally pissed off at him but she wasn't going to go over there to tell him what she thought right now. On the one hand, they were at work and she was professional so she wasn't going to go to his lab and scream at him to stop being a petulant child and trust in other people when you have a problem because you are being a dumbass to the people who care about you. No matter how appealing the idea was. On the other hand... that erotic dream had her still a bit messed up at the moment. It had felt very real and a shiver ran through her spine as the scenes replayed through her head. She couldn't fault Hodges for her own dream but she was starting to feel like she would need a cold shower every time she would see him during this night and that didn't make her very happy precisely. "Oh, what a joy of shift this one was going to be"- she thought to herself.

* * *

Greg and Finn were already in the break room. He was nibbling at a pencil while looking at a half done Hard Level sudoku in the newspaper in front of him while Finn was looking through the files of a case.

-"Hey guys!"- she greeted them- "Are you looking through the backlog Finn?"

-"Nah, just checking the paperwork before I give it to D.B."- she answered- "you look kind of pale, hangover from all those margaritas we drank? are you feeling okay?"- she asked in a light-hearted tone.

-"Not really, I'm feeling okay. Maybe I'm just getting a cold" -she answered briskly to end that line of questioning- "how about you, did you get a hangover the next morning?"

-"Oh, not at all"- she grinned- "you'd need far more than that to get this veteran drunk or with a hungover".

Morgan decided to omit that Finn had indeed been inebriated the other night to preserve the older CSI pride intact and just chuckled.

All this talk had awoken Greg's interest.

-"Aww, you had a party and you didn't invited us?"- he pretended to be offended and almost pouted- "You meanies".

-"Come on, it was a Girls' Night Out and you boys didn't invite us to the Football match you had either"- Morgan teased him back.

-"Oh, a Girls' Night, what did you do? Paint each other nails, watch romantic comedies and criticise the men in your life?"- despite the mocking angle of the question he seemed really interested.

-"You are lucky there aren't any pillows around to throw at you Greg"- she threatened.

-"He is kind of right 'though, isn't he Morgan? Remember the list we did grading all the men in the Lab?"- she signalled her under the table not to spoil the joke.

-"And how did I do?"- asked Greg with eagerness. He had swallowed the bait hook, like and sinker.

-"You got 98, top marks, the best of all the Lab. Nick was the runner up with 86"- she told him. Morgan was trying not to look at him because it as getting hard to keep a straight face when he was buying it wholesale.

-"Seriously?!"- he asked over excited and they both started to laugh.

-"No, of course not"- Finn told him between chuckles- "We are not 15 year old girls Greg. We don't do stuff like that".

Greg had the look of someone who had just discovered his favourite surfboard had been eaten by sharks so Morgan took pity on him and stopped laughing.

Nick and Sara chose that moment to enter the room discussing about a missing person's case they were investigating together.

-"Hey guys. what's up?"- said Nick with a big smile. He was in full spirits today.

Finn was still laughing a bit so it only took them a minute to learn what it was all about.

-"Finn, don't be so cruel with the poor guy"- said Sara barely stifling a chuckle.

-"I deserve it for buying it"- interjected Greg. He had already let go of the embarrassment and all of them ended up joking about it.

-"You aren't a sore loser at all".

-"You really know how to take jokes".

-"What a nice stand up guy".

-"Guys, you are going to make me blush"- Greg said under the outpouring of compliments from the girls.

-"Yes, stop it"- Nick quipped- "his ego is going to get bigger than this building".

-"Hey"- Greg started to take offence but D.B. chose that moment to arrive.

-"It seems we are going to have a hard night. Nick and Sara, continue with your case. I heard you managed to locate the body of the disappeared man. Good job!"- he congratulated them- "Greg, you go to the robbery of the house in 103 Granger Road. Brass will meet you there. The family is pretty shaken up so he has been having trouble getting something productive out of them. Let's hope the evidence you collect there helps."- he was like a good military sergeant giving clear and easy to understand orders- "Finn and Sara, go to the double homicide in 27 Vermillion Avenue. This is a pretty nasty case, a woman and a 10 year old child. Dave is already on his way and the police officer in charge of the case is Officer Mitchell. I'll stay here to manage the Fort and in case I'm needed in another scene. Call me if you need any back up".

They all scattered and went to prepare themselves and take their kits. Once everything was ready, they headed for the cars.

-"I call dibs on driving!"

-"Weren't you just saying not 20 minutes ago that you weren't a 15 years old?"- Morgan teased her.

-"Please"- she begged.

-"Okay, but then I pick the music".

-"Deal".

* * *

**Hodge's POV**

As soon as he set foot in the building, Henry latched at him like he was water in the dessert. He wanted to tell him all about the evening with the guys. It was actually quite nice that despite how much of a pain in the ass he had been this past weeks... and well almost always, Henry still came to him with this kind of stuff and considered him his friend. No matter how much he might complain about him out loud, he appreciated him... although he'd never admit it publicly.

-"And I actually did get a touchdown"- Henry was grinning from ear to ear.

-"Are you sure you didn't score because the others thought it was a time-out or they stopped to drink water or something similar so they weren't defending?"- he couldn't resist trying to tease him.

-"What? No. Actually Nick said he was going to have to get serious"- Henry replied proudly.

-"Well. Congratulations then".

-"And then later we went to some bar Greg knew to have beers and..."

Suddenly he felt a prickly sensation on his back like a bug was crawling up his neck and he turn around to see nothing. Just a small flash of blue in the corner of his eye.

Henry continued telling him about his weekend until Sara and Nick came along to ask how the samples they'd taken from the site of their case were going.

-"I know I'm a genius but even I am not that fast. The Mass Spectrometer needs time."- he said in feigned annoyance.

-"So... you have nothing?"- asked Nick trying to play at his pride.

-"Well, I did some additional tests and I can tell you that in the soil samples 6, 11, 12 and 13 there were traces of iron and sulphur but I don't know if that will be very usefu..."

-"Oh great! I have an idea"- said Nick and they both left the lab quickly.

-"I hate when they do that".

-"You and me man"- said Henry while leaving for his own space.

Now, free from distractions, he continued processing the evidence. The repetitive process left his mind wander and he started wondering if he would see Morgan soon. Would still be mad at him? He suddenly felt the compulsion to go to the break room with any excuse just to get a look at her and see how she was doing. It seemed like a capricious god had listened to him because just in that moment he saw Morgan and Finn going to the garage. She was as beautiful as always in that nice blue blouse and that shirt that said Rock & Roll in Katakana but she looked like she was feeling ill.

He passed the next few hours worried about her.

* * *

**A/N:** Th-th-th-that's all folks! At least for this week. I'm sorry that not much happened in this chapter and that the story is going so slow. Again thank you so much for taking the time to read and I hope I can interest you in that rectangular box just below that says "Type your review" XD Have a really nice weekend!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.

**A/N:** So it's Thursday again and here it is a new chapter that I'll hope you'll like. We've gotten to the point in the story when I try to write a case and fail/succeed/something in between? You can tell me in your reviews. Also, as always, I encourage you to tell me in them if you have any suggestions about any other ships apart from Modges you'd like to see or something else. I'm going to try to write some chapters beforehand to post during the next few weeks as I'll probably won't have time to write them and have time to study and procrastinate and procrastinat... I mean studying is very important.

Thanks to all my readers and specially to Dolcefarniente and ElislinCSI for taking the time to give me their opinons on last chapter. Internet bear hugs for all.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Soon they arrived to the scene where a pair of police cars were parked, their blue and red lights projecting themselves on the white surfaces of the buildings around. There was an uniform waiting for them at the door of the upscale apartment house to take them to their destination. He seemed a bit green about the gills so Morgan mentally prepared herself for what they might be about to see. The corridor walls were as typical and bland as any other in the area. A boring beige decorated with scant figurative paintings and what she imagined were plastic orchids, trying way too hard to be minimalist and sober, but at the same time mark it as luxurious.

The door was ajar and, inside, the hall showed signs of fight with a broken vase and some blood stains on the furniture and gravitational drops on the floor. It looked like the criminal had gained entrance with some ruse and once inside had resorted to violence to overpower the victim. The next room presented a more gruesome scene.

Two lifeless bodies were posed on the 3-seat couch, one a middle age woman in slacks and a blouse and a little kid in a soccer uniform. Both had been decapitated and had their own heads over their laps. Each one had also received a single gunshot to the back of the head execution style so she hoped the beheading had been after they were dead. The ten year old child seemed to have a lot more injuries than the woman with her face disfigured with cuts and the subsequent bleeding. Damn, that hadn't been post-mortem. Dave was taking the liver temperature of the mother that had a broken lip and a swollen eye and her wrists had nasty ligature marks.

She had a small flashback. The feeling of being restrained and not being able to move. Her heart started racing but she shook it off swiftly because there was work to do. She could freak out later when nothing important was going on. She forced herself to keep examining the scene.

In the centre of the room there was a fallen chair, some cut rope and two large blood pools. There was a bookcase next to the wall and it seemed to have been ransacked in search of something. There was a mahogany table with colourful drawings and some crayons to the opposite side from where they had come. Next to it there was a door to the rest of the house and some policemen were on that corner having a conversation.

Officer Mitchell stopped talking with one of his men as soon as he saw we were there and, trying not to step on any blood stain or any other kind of valuable evidence, he made his way to us.

-"Hello CSI Brody, CSI Finlay"- he courteously greeted them- "A neighbour called it in one hour ago when he saw the door half open and went inside to check. The vomit you see in that corner is his dinner and maybe his lunch too by the size of it. He identified the victims as his neighbours Vanessa and Jennifer Clegane. All the valuable stuff is still in the house as far as we know so we don't know what were the perpetrators looking for in this house".

-"Yay puke contaminating the scene"- Finn exclaimed with mock enthusiasm.

-"At least it's mostly on the perimeter of the room"- Morgan tried to console her and moved on to continue the conversation- "What did the neighbour tell you about the victims?"

-"The family consisted of Martin Clegane, his wife Vanessa and their daughter Jennifer and they had been living here for 4 years. He said that he mostly saw the mom and the daughter in the last few months and everything seemed okay. The last time he saw them, the three of them were about to go have dinner out three nights ago"- he informed them- "We haven't been able to contact the father and we still have to canvass the building for statements from the other tenants".

-"We'll take some photos and comb the scene. Let's see if we can catch the animal who did this"- concluded Finn- "What do you prefer Morgan, the living room or the perimeter and the other rooms?"

-"Last time I did the perimeter so this time I'm taking the primary scene"- she said trying to sound convinced she could take it.

-"Time to start photographing then"- Finn gave her a reassuring smile.

-"Well, I'll let you to it. There's an officer posted outside in case you need anything"- said Officer Mitchell as his farewell.

With that, they each went to do their job. Digital cameras at the ready, they proceeded to document with the maximum possible detail the awful event.

There were many photos of the happy family in the living room. A 5 years old with long blonde hair opening her Christmas present. The couple, he a 40 year old tall strawberry blonde man, she a 42 year old petite brunette. The man and the woman holding a baby, both all smiles posing for a family portrait. A 7 year old blonde tomboy in her soccer uniform with a big grin on her face. That same girl a bit older in a picture with all her soccer team, all vibrant with energy in their muddied shirts and shorts. The most recent one featured the parents with the girl with short boy hair but clap on earrings and in a dress for another family portrait.

It gave a disgusting voyeuristic feeling to watch and record the most intimate aspects of a person even if the person was dead and it was to catch their killer. Morgan had started to feel that way when she herself had been the victim and, although she had been more than happy to help, the uncomfortable feelings had been there and the idea had been planted on her psyche.

The corpses had been taken from the scene after being photographed and just two dark stains on the brown couch and duct tape marked the place where they had been. Now it was the time to recollect any fiber or trace the killers had left because no matter how careful they were, something had to appear. Sample after sample were recollected, the living room meticulously searched.

After finishing, a working theory was forming itself in her brain, although it was too early to tell if it was in any way close to the truth. She thought that the mother had been tied up to the chair and interrogated using hurting the child as a bargaining chip. As the mother couldn't tell them what they needed, they cut the face of the kid more and more until they finally realised that she knew nothing and they killed them and posed them to send a message. To the father perhaps? It was nothing solid at the moment since at this point they still hadn't processed the evidence. She hoped that after Finn's analysis of the blood, they'd be closer to uncovering what had gone down and be able to catch the culprits. She hoped catching these people soon would prevent the nightmares she knew this was going to provoke.

Finn got her out of her thoughts:

-"Hey! I'm done and I'm going back to the Lab. Have you finished? Do you come with me or are you taking a ride with one of the uniforms?- she asked.

-"No, no. I'm going back with you but this time I drive"- she said trying to joke a bit to diffuse the tense atmosphere of working such a hard scene.

-"Not a chance. Be happy I've asked you to come along. Your taste in music sucks"- she teased back.

-"Hey!"- she gave her a soft punch on the arm and they continued bickering on the way to work.

* * *

**Hodge's POV**

He had really gotten into his work to forget about his worries. They had a lot of work today. He hadn't even seen Henry since they talked at the start of the shift. He hadn't taken any break either so it would usually had been a super productive day but it certainly wasn't the case.

Today his mind didn't deign to follow his commands and in fact dared to completely defy him no matter what he tried. He even had kind of a mantra that he repeated inside his head every time the topic of Morgan resurfaced:

-"Morgan is okay, she is a strong woman who can take care of herself".

The problem was that sometimes it was more like this:

-"Morgan is okay..._ I hope_.. no, no she's really okay, she's a strong _and beautiful_ woman who can take care of herself.. _but what if she can't? what if she needs help?_ ... well even if she can't, she will ask for it... _what if she doesn't?_... ... I can't well go meddle when I just told her she should mind he own business and leave me alone.._ then you are an ass_... !

His subconscious wasn't really polite it would seem. Still after a few more mental back and forth, he actually convinced himself and started being more efficient. He thought he actually had cracked the case in which Nick and Sara were working. He sent a message to each of the CSIs asking anyone of them to come. Nick soon came to hear what he'd found.

-"What do you have for me?"- He asked genially.

-"The assault has to have been at a farm in a very small area called Celebé Desert where there are some mines but just one single farm"- he said triumphally.

-"Oh man. I should have told you we already knew that. We already found it was in that farm and Sara went to check it while I waited on the tests and scoured the footage from the ATM in front of the victims house"-he told him sheepishly-"She just phoned me that they arrested the suspect but he refuses to talk".

In other circumstances that would have been a coup de grace and he'd been grumbling the rest of the day but not today.

-"Oh, and you know that one of you didn't realise that there was saliva in the fabric fragment you gave me of the victim. Not long ago I sent it to Henry so soon you'll have proof to send the man to prison for a long long time".

-"That's so great I could almost hug you"

-"Please, refrain yourself"- Hodges' face clearly transmitted how not pleasant the idea was to him.

-"I was just kidding. Good job man"- he said giving him a hard pat on the back that almost sent him tumbling.

Thinking that maybe if he could know what Morgan was doing, he might stop being so damn fretful- it was unbecoming of him! He wasn't like that- he asked:

-"Do you know what case is Morgan working?"- he managed to say it sounding normal- ah, I mean, I want to know what type of case it is to know what type of samples ah to expect and this shift we've had lots of work and ah I wondered if there was going to be a lot more". _Smooth_

Luckily he didn't appear to notice it or maybe he was being a good friend and pretending not to realise the real reason of his question.

-"All powerful Hodges can't handle 10 or 20 samples more"- he teased him- "Don't worry, it's the double murder of the woman and the kiddo so it's inside an apartment with lots of blood. Henry is the one who is going to sweat it. It's a pretty gruesome murder 'though. I've heard the police officers speaking of severed heads and torture but I'm sure the girls can handle it".

Hodges' cortisol and adrenaline levels shot through the roof. He managed to finish the chit chat with Nick and gave himself a minute or two to privately freak out. He always got anxious when Morgan got a bad case after the kidnapping, worrying how it might affect her and if she really was totally okay but seeing her sickly pallid today, the hours of getting all worked up by himself and the specially macabre nature of the case had him really agitated. He tried the "mantra" again:

-"Morgan is okay. Morgan is okay. Morgan... _stop deluding yourself, you don't really believe that_... and then, what do I do? ... _You go ask her in an educated and compassionate manner and you get a bit pushy if it's necessary_... and what if she won't want to listen because as I said to myself I'm an ass... _you tell her how you've always felt about her and ask_... no, no, never, I'm never being that vulnerable again... ... _well, then you apologise and hope she accepts it_... but if she doesn't acc... _FUCKING GO ASK HER AND THEN YOU CAN COMPLAIN IF IT FAILS_.

* * *

**A/N:** My OOC characters are a tiny bit nuts... as if you already didn't know XD I'm sorry for publishing it later than usual. I hope you have an awesome weekend.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.

**A/N:** Tomorrow I have an exam and I haven't studied nearly enough. Then I have another on Monday. I feel like the worst person in the world writing fanfics instead of studying but I promised a chapter every Thursday and I don't want to disappoint you, my incredibly awesome readers. I hope I don't sound too much like a suck up but, the truth is that seeing people reading and enjoying my story makes me very very happy so I send you all the bear hugs in the world. Special thanks to Dolcefarniente for reviewing and SBDGirl88 for giving me a follow. Don't forget to review people, I like to hear your opinions. On with the show!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Finn found them an empty room to start classifying it all. They had an incredible amount of DNA samples, tons of photographs and lifted prints, various fibers and human hair and some soil samples from near the door, obviously the criminal or criminals didn't bother cleaning their shoes and they joked about dirty shoes being the damnations of wanna-be evil masterminds. They still hadn't gotten the video footage of the ATM in front of the building. They made a good team so it didn't take them long to finish.

-"Finn, do you mind taking the samples to the Trace and DNA Labs? I'll run the prints in AFIS"- she said as nonchalantly as possible.

-"What? Are you now avoiding Hodges too?"- she said joking about her behaviour these few weeks after "ruining" the wedding.

-"No, I just... "- she started. She was making a damn bad job keeping her feelings to herself today.

-"Oh, I'm sorry if what I said has spoiled your friendship with Hodges. I really didn't mean that. As a pain in the ass he can sometimes be, I like him"- she tried to apologise.

-"It's not your fault. I thought David and I were friends and I thought he trusted me enough to tell me something this big. I guess I was wrong. I just need some time for myself right now"-she tried to reassure her. She hadn't exactly lied... but what was left out could fill a not so little diary.

-"Shit. It seems creating drama is becoming my forte"- Before she could continue talking, their beepers sounded and they were informed that the father, Martin Clegane, had been reached and was sitting on an interrogation room waiting for Officer Mitchell and one of them to take elimination prints and DNA swabs.

Morgan offered to go. Meeting a distraught parent wasn't very pleasant but it would give them valuable information.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He tried very hard not to let it show how disappointed he was when it was Finn who brought in the samples to analyse. Nick had been right it wasn't a lot of extra work for his very bulky workload.

-"Hey Hodges? How's the work treating you today? Is there a lot of backlog or can we expect to get our results soon and with the high quality you have gotten us used to?"

-"Stop trying to butter me up"- he pretended to feel offended. He was actually quite glad that she seemed to be back to treating him like a normal co-worker and not like he could turn into a flailing mess in an instant and it was all her fault. After all, it really wasn't- "I don't do favouritism. You'll get your results when your turn in the queue comes up".

Actually he was already going to put a rush on it but he wasn't planning on admitting it to her. He decided to sneak it before Greg's stuff. After all what he didn't know, ... he couldn't get angry about.

-"Okay, okay but please, this is important. We need to know if the mud was carried there by the criminal or if one of the victims just forgot to clean their shoes. The wife and the kid both had street shoes on that were clean but there two pairs of muddy shoes inside a sports bag. If the dirt is from the criminal shoes 'though and it is characteristic enough, it will save us because right now the only lead we have it's on the father and I can't think of a normal reason why a father would torture their family, kill them execution style and behead them. It's just bizarre".

-"Don't worry. You'll have your results _pronto_"- he rubbed his hands nervously and asked- "How is Morgan? I hope this case isn't stirring bad memories?"

-"I think she is fine but you should ask her yourself"- she said not looking him in the eye... again with that *sigh*-"You really should talk to her soon".

-"What's wrong Finn?"- he was starting to get alarmed.

-"I don't want to drop the ball again. I'll be back later"- she turned to leave but took compassion and told him- "I'll try to get her to come next time but I can't promise you anything".

The word "again" had never had such an air of fatality.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Martin looked almost exactly like in the pictures on the mantelpiece of the living room. Time had given him some creases around the eyes but it actually made him more handsome, in a George Clooney or Richard Gere way. Still it wasn't what she had imagined, not at all. He looked cold and restrained staring at the wall deep in thought. The glass of water near him barely touched. He didn't have red marks around his ears or any other signal of having been crying. Maybe he was just a stoic man. The other possibility, that this man had murdered his wife and daughter in such a cruel manner made her shiver.

"Hello again"- Larry Mitchell appeared from behind her- "We've just gotten all the data on this fella on the record. There's some domestic dispute calls in here. They are from 8-10 months ago. Thanks to that, we've got his prints on the database. There's also something strange about his finances. How can a guy who works in a low level office post keep that kind of apartment? Anyway, I want to keep him in the dark as much as possible, just in case he gives himself away by saying something he shouldn't know. Are you okay with the plan?

-"Sure"- she easily acquiesced. She was still staring at the man brooding and he was creeping her a bit.

Officer Mitchell opened the door and Martin snapped back to reality and greeted them.

-"Mr Clegane. This is CSI Brody and she is here to take a swab of you nose or oral cavity to take a DNA sample to use as elimination samples. It's just standard proceeding.

-"First tell me what's going on. You told me my wife and daughter were dead. How did it happen? Can I see them?"- he asked

-"We believe they were murdered. Right now they are waiting to be autopsied"-Mitchell stated in a calm manner.

Morgan thought she saw Martin flinch but in the blink of an eye he was back to normal and she started doubting she had seen it at all.

-"That's impossible"- his expression of surprise didn't ring entirely true to her ears- "who would murder a housewife and a child?"- as logical as that statement was, the living room of his house negated it whether he knew it or not.

-"You are remarkably calm for someone who has just lost his wife and kid"- Mitchell started to goad him- "What were you doing between 6 PM and 8 PM this evening Mr Clegane? Why none of your neighbours recall seeing you around these past 7 months until three weeks ago and why couldn't we locate you earlier tonight?"

-"What the...?!"- he barely managed to contain his outrage-"So I had problems with my wife and we were separated the past half a year but we were getting there".

-"So where were you while your family was being murdered?"- Mitchell was trying hard to get a raise out of him.

He got up and banged on the table.

-"Don't fucking kid with me"- he snarled-"I wasn't there because she kicked me out 2 days ago for not attending one damn counselling session".

Mitchell got up and made him sit.

-"Do you think you can intimidate me? Do you need an anger management course? What were you doing at the time of the murder? Answer the damn question.

-"You want to know what I was fucking doing? Yesterday I was at a dive bar getting drunk. When you called I was passed out so I didn't hear the damn telephone".

One second he seemed to be about to tear everything around down out of pure rage or frustration but again he managed to compose himself. The man was a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in designer clothes and a cold exterior.

-"I don't have to collaborate with you. If you aren't going to tell me what happened, I want to get out there to find out what I can"-he asserted calm again- "so charge me or let me go. My very expensive lawyer will be very happy if you decide to charge me and until he is present, I'm not saying anything or giving you my DNA"- as he said this, he wiped his glass clean with a baby blue handkerchief.

* * *

-"I think that guy is a sociopath, We were telling him his entire family was dead and we might as well having been telling him tomorrow was going to be rainy"- Larry told her.

Clegane had already left the premises with a warning not to leave the city. It was too early to charge him. They didn't have enough evidence.

-"I don't know, that might have been the shock. I think I saw him react when he found out they were murdered".

-"I didn't see that. I read guilt in his face"- he was pretty convinced- "Well, if it's him, we'll prove it. I'm going to see if we have finally managed to recover the video from the ATM or any other cameras in the vicinity. At the moment we haven't have much luck with CCTV.

-"Good luck"- she encouraged him with a grin.

-"You too"- he returned in kind.

* * *

Finn had finished scanning all the fingerprints and was "knee deep" into the blood patterns. Her eyes had a special glint when she was trying to solve the puzzle that were blood stains, gravitational drops, smears and all the millions combinations of them and more. She looked up from the photographs when she heard her approaching.

-"Hey. How did it went?"- she questioned with curiosity.

-"It was weird. The man was creepily calm"- she elaborated- "Officer Mitchell is a hundred percent sure he is the guy"- There was a "but"-shaped short silence before Finn filled it:

-"But you don't think so"- she completed the sentence for her.

-"Most murders of women are committed by a partner or former partner and he seemed to feel a certain amount of guilt so I know many things point to him. It's just that he seemed genuinely shocked for a second when he found out they were murdered and that he could be feeling guilty about other stuff like not going to the therapy sessions he had promised to attend so she kicked her out, or at least that's the reason he has given us, and because of that he wasn't there to protect them or maybe it's something more mundane like having cheated on his spouse".

-"Then, let's get to work!"-Finn was pretty enthusiastic since studying the distribution of that precious red fluid was her area and she was damn good at it- "By the way, Hodges just paged me that he might have some results for us. I know you didn't want to see him but, as you see, I'm pretty busy right now, and moreover, you are co-workers so it's important you can work together".

-"I hate it when you are right"- she half-grumbled. Well, she'd swing by quickly and go watch the autopsy afterwards.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He had believed Finn was just humouring him when she said she was going to convince Morgan to come so he barely believed his eyes when she saw her coming. Part of him was starting to wonder if she was mad about something else apart form their little argument the other day... After all Morgan wasn't the over-reaction type of person and she usually prefer to confront stuff directly, pushing, pushing and pushing, so avoiding him seemed a bit out of character.

-"Good morning". he said smiling and trying to be charismatic... perhaps he should have gotten a mail course called "Learn to be Charismatic in 12 easy lessons" because he failed miserably.

-"Hi"- she answered curtly- "do you have something for me?"

-We can situate one of the samples in 25 square miles of desert- he told her

-"That's very good. Thanks".

-"Listen"- he started- "I wanted to apologise about the other day. I'm sorry I was a sarcastic ass"- everything seemed to be going well since Morgan had even smiled as she nodded when he called himself an ass- "You are my best friend and I trust you"- and with that he messed it up big time but he didn't even knew how.

-"What?"- she looked at him with incredulity and exasperation- "You say you trust me? You haven't even told me what was wrong with you. Your best friend?! Right... If that's the way it is, I don't even know if I want to be your friend. You asked me to leave you alone and that's what I'm doing. After leaving me aside you don't get the right to say stuff like that".

Her pager went off and when she looked at it, her eyes got as big as plates.

-"Morgan... I"- he was at a loss of words. It always happened to him in moments like this.

Morgan's answer was to turn the pager around so he read the message:

**Misidentification****. The child is male.**

His head swarmed with questions from how could that have happened or why it took everybody so long to realise the mistake. Still there were two that were way more pressing:

Where was Jennifer and who was there on the Morgue?

* * *

**A/N:** How many of you saw it coming? By the way, the first time I wrote that Hodges "was going to put a tush on it". That certainly made for some funny images XP Typos like that are the best kind. It _almost_ makes you sad to correct them XD I'm so sleepy, I hope I didn't commit too many mistakes because of it... although I always do, and that's how I got to be known as the TypoQueenTM XP People who prefer romance over cases, are you getting pissed off? You can tell me in a review! This chapter was a bit larger than others but the next one will probably be a bit shorter so I hope they compensate each other! Have a good weekend and wish me lots of luck on my exams!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement.

**A/N:** I'm writing this chappie in the last minute. I'm a bad lazy ass fanfic writer XD but part of the reason was that my muse was eluding me and it's still not home to inspire me or at least kick me in the ass to be more productive. The other part is that studying sucks away my creativity and I have a pair of very very very hard exams next week.

Did you like the reveal that the child victim wasn't the daughter of the man they were interrogating? Talking about last chapter, I hope you are enjoying the case because there's still quite a bit of it left. I've tried to keep it interesting but I'm certainly no part of the CSI writing crew so bear with me. I'm trying to make the relationship between the characters develop as organically as possible with a side dish of drama but I think it's going as smoothly as a rock to the face. Thank you to my new and old reviewers and all the people who've decided to follow or favourite my fanfic. You are the best. Well, have a nice day sweeties!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

David had managed to piss her off royally. It seemed it was the result of all their interactions lately and she didn't like that but... how could he shut her out and then approach her like this in the middle of this nightmarish case. She was tired of this hot and cold game and she told him off. She didn't know what she wanted anymore but this wasn't it.

It all became irrelevant when her pager went off and it was like a ton of bricks had fallen on top of her. Their victim wasn't who they thought he was and now not only they would have to tell another family they had lost a child but there was a little girl missing, probably kidnapped. Another child lonely and scared in who knows what god forsaken place. Why did it have to be a case like this? She was still a bit troubled by the memories of her own kidnapping and she didn't feel strong enough. Still, the present required her right now, she didn't have time to dawdle in the past, and she had to tell Hodges and everybody else about this before going to the Morgue to find out more.

She just showed the message to him who seemed just as taken aback as she was and left the Lab with a promise to return later to learn more about the results and a curt farewell. She didn't turn her head because she didn't want to see him looking at her all worried. It would make her feel bad for telling him off.

* * *

It was a short walk to the Morgue. She spent it calling Larry Mitchell and Finn. The latter told her that Henry had confirmed that all the DNA samples belonged to only two people, the victims. The former conversation was a bit more complicated:

-"Hi, this is CSI Brody".

-"Hey. Do you have something new on the case?"- he inquired- "We still haven't gotten anything conclusive from our interviews and the bank has sent us the tapes of the surveillance of all week except for last night. They say it was a problem of miscommunication and that they'll sent us the tapes soon".

-"I have some bad news. The victim was a boy. It's probably one of the soccer teammates of Jennifer. You should call their coach. He might know who was friends with the girl or even who went with them that afternoon and that way you won't have to unnecessarily alarm the other parents. The problem is, where's Jennifer? Was she taken by the attacker?"- she tried to fill him in with everything she had learnt- "Also, there seems to be a connection to a small zone of dessert. It might be nothing but you should contact David Hodges from the Traces Lab".

-"What the f...?"- the line went silent for little more than a second- "Okay, I'm calling an A.M.B.E.R. Alert. We are going to put road block controls in all major arteries of the city but it's being about nine hours since she was abducted so who knows how far she can be if the criminal decided to flee. On the other hand, if the father was implicated as I believe, they probably haven't left the city. The wife seemed about to divorce him. He might have decided to escape with the girl. Moreover there hasn't been any ransom notice although I'll put someone on the phones just in case".

-"But why torture and kill the other child?"- she had a lot of doubts - "And why did he even come to the interview?"

-"I think that guy is a sociopath and the fact that his wife kicked him out again was the stressor that broke the camel's back. Not only his reactions were weird but there's something fishy about this man's life from the house he couldn't have afforded to pay to the fact that we couldn't find anything about his life previous to his marriage"- he stated the facts with confidence-"He wanted to kill them in this gruesome matter and he wanted to have the chance to look at our faces after we had seen his handiwork".

-"I just hope the girl is okay".

-"Me too"-his voice sounded heavy through the telephone-"As soon as I hang up, I'll have my men summon Mr Clegane to the Station again. We are going to find her".

* * *

Al Robbins was labelling some samples behind his desk as Dave finished cleaning of blood the tiny body of the boy. When Dr Robbins saw her, he picked up his cane and got up in one swift movement, as experience had converted the walking aide in just one more part of his body. Dave shut off the water and turned too, greeting her with a nod.

-"Hey Morgan. We were expecting you"- said Robbins smiling at her- "Have you guys managed to identify our John Doe?"

-"Not yet. What can you tell me about me about Vanessa Clegane and the child?"

-"We've just finished with Mrs Clegane. Cause of death was a shot to the back of the head. Time of death is 5-8 PM"- Dave gave her the results of his work- "The decapitation was postmortem but the blows to the face, neck and back of the head and the defensive wounds on torso and arms are all antemortem. We'll get a mould of the stab marks. Still the kid got the worst of it. The rest of the information will be on your desk soon".

-"We have barely started the autopsy on the boy. We won't be able to tell you much until we've finished" -Robbins informed her"- I've finished labelling the samples taken from the nails of the mother. You can take them to DNA".

-"I'll take them after the autopsy".

-"Are you sure you want to stay?" -Dave tried to convince her to opt out- "It gets pretty tough for me and I'm used to it".

-"Nobody so young should be on our table David, but I'm sure if Miss Brody has decided to stay, she is capable of handling it" -Robbins reassured her and the discussion was over.

The external examination and vitality tests determined that the multiple cuts, gashes and bruises on his face and upper body were made with him alive as they feared. They had extracted the vitreous humour of the other eye to get the very best margin on time of death and it matched the findings they had gotten with Vanessa. There weren't any visible signs of sexual assault and, for that at least, they could be grateful. The poor kid's face was totally disfigured and his deep lifeless eyes seemed to be staring at her angrily. She shook her head, closed her eyes and wished to stop seeing what wasn't there. When she opened her eyes, the illusion had vanished.

When they started with the Y shaped incision, she realised there probably wasn't much more she was going to learn and, after saying her goodbyes, she took off to continue her work.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He seriously considered beating his head against the wall. He knew he had just blown up the chance Finn had provided him but he hoped he could solve it when she came back for the rest of the results. Right now 'though, his objective was to analyse the heck out of the traces he had to help find that girl and catch the killer.

It was true that elevated levels of those chemical compounds could only be found in the 25 square miles surrounding Alkary's Factory at the start of the desert zone south-west of Las Vegas but there were about a thousand people working in that factory and the surrounding ones so even just running background checks on all of them was going to be a monumental task and it was going to take time the girl may not have. He told Officer Mitchell as much when he called him half an hour later.

Most of the stuff he found was too common to pinpoint any area or particular occupation and he was down to the last soil sample the CSIs had collected. The Mass Spectrometer had already done its thing and he was looking at it with a microscope. There seemed to be some spores and at first glance he couldn't recognise them what could be a great sign since he was sure he knew the shape of all the common spores in the metropolitan zone. It was time to compare it to try to find what specie it was from. He might have stricken gold.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

-"Morgan"-Finn didn't even say hello before telling her what she had discovered- "We need to go to the scene again. I'm practically sure there were two people involved in the crime".

-"Then let's go"- she wasn't going to let that kid down.

This time the ride was tense and silent after Finn had explained that there was a hole in the blood pattern that could only match with a second suspect but that she needed to see it in person. It was dispersed by the sound of Finn's cell phone.

-"Uhm aha, okay... wow... will do"- were her half of the conversation.

-"It seems that the patrolmen that went to fetch Clegane committed the mistake of telling him it wasn't his daughter that had died and he bolted. They didn't know he was a suspect so they thought he should know his daughter wasn't dead as soon as possible. They are right now being chewed out by Mitch not only because they told him but because they let him give them the slip. He wants us to get his prints from something in the house and send him the results immediately".

Once they got there, Finn started reconstructing the scene with red laser pointers and mannequins. It was going to be a long job. Meanwhile Morgan started searching for prints in places where they hadn't looked before in the master bedroom and between what was obviously the father's stuff.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Arghhh, he couldn't find the damn type of spore. Moreover Nick and Sara were pestering him about their stuff and it was only time before Sanders got impatient too. If they thought this job was so easy, they could just do it themselves and see how well it went.

He took a break from finding the spore to advance the analysis of the other samples hoping to catch up and that the break would clear his mind up and help him.

He had a lucky break or two in Nick and Sara's case but still couldn't find the species and was two images away from hitting something.

He closed his eyes to relax and sighed loudly and when he opened them he found a half amused half vexed Conrad Ecklie.

-"Do you know where's my daughter?"- he asked politely. They had gotten on better as they had gotten to know each other a bit after Olivia and him started dating and he realised he wasn't actually doing the same with his child.

-"She was working on her case but I don't know where she is right now"- he hoped Ecklie couldn't notice the guilt he felt for how things had gone down in their last encounters.

-"It's just that I asked her on Friday if she wouldn't mind spending her break with me. She is been so busy lately that we haven't been able to meet barely at all these last few weeks and I'm a bit worried. I even bought chicken from our favourite place"- he confessed to him and it made him feel even worse because he didn't deserve the confidence and because he should have noticed that something was off with Morgan... he was such a pathetic self-centred sorry excuse for a friend.

-"I imagine you've already tried her cell phone, how about sending her a pager?"- he suggested.

* * *

Morgan had finished collecting all the fingerprints. Taking out the child sized ones and the partial one that were only barely usable, there were still a good dozen or so. Finn was still in the middle of setting everything up and was so concentrated that she barely nodded when Morgan told her she was going to the portable laboratory they had in the back of the car to discard the prints from the wife and see if the husband was in AFIS.

She got there and in very few minutes they were introduced. Luckily there seemed to have been a clear fingerprint that wasn't the wife's on a historical novel inside his bedside table. Even if he was on the database 'though, this would take some time. She was still waiting when she heard a small commotion to her right and saw him.

Clegane was fighting with another man 30 yards down the street. It was a tall man with dark brown or black hair, difficult to say as there wasn't much light. He was wearing dark pants, sleeveless clear t-shirt and some sporty shoes. He was muscular and had tattoos but she couldn't make them out clearly.

She took out her phone but it had died because of lack of battery. She pulled out her gun and flashlight and advanced towards them.

As soon as they made her, she run towards them yelling for them to stop but they took running in opposite directions. She decided to follow the dark haired man but he was very fast. She increased her pace but just when she was reducing the distance he jumped onto a bulky Harley Davidson motorbike. She tried to make out the license plate number but the license plate was intentionally muddled and she could barely make out a 3 and the letter F. He burnt up the road getting out of there in seconds while she tried to get something more from the license plate.

In that moment her pager went off and she saw she had a message from her father (damn! she had forgotten about their lunch break date). She started reading it as she started turning around to return when she received a heavy blow to the back of her head. She fell to the floor face first and before she lost conciousness she heard someone over her say:

-"You've fucked everything up".

* * *

**A/N:** Morgan doesn't know what the expression self-care means and that's not good, not good at all. If you don't take care of your psyche and emotional health, you are never going to heal completely and in her job, she really needs it although what she really needed this time was a BIG helmet XD Well, what have you thought about this chapter? What should Hodges have done different? Is Morgan right about being angry? What do you think it's going to happen next? Please tell me in a review. There's a bit less interaction between the protagonists in this chapter but I needed the time to develop the case a bit further. Lots of cyber hugs for my favourite readers! See ya next Thursday!

P.S.: FF ate this chapter so this is version 2.0 Raaaarghhhh! That will teach me to take better precautions! Also, this is my longer chapter to date. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to be the norm so don't get used to it. Sorry


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.

**A/N:** Two cliffhangers on a row. I hope the resolution of this one isn't disappointing :P There's more interaction between our protagonists in this chapter. Will they be able to work things through to an understanding? Where do you think this case is heading?

Thanks a lot for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this fanfic. You make writing it a pleasure. I send you all the internet cookies in the world darlings!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

-"She isn't answering her pager either"- there was worry mixed into Ecklie's statement as Morgan always answered her pager.

-"Call Finn now"- he said more forcefully than he had intended- "They may be together. Or Officer Mitchell, he was the officer in charge"- he suggested as a second thought.

-"You don't know where she is? She went to the car to run some prints?"- Ecklie was drilling Finn with questions.

An uncomfortable silence fell while Finn left the building and walked over to the car. Hodges had stopped working and was feeling like a fool just standing there staring at the phone Ecklie was holding like it was life and dead. He really hoped he was over-reacting.

-"Eh? You don't see her? The back door is open? Where's my daughter?!"- Ecklie lost his cool- "No, I'll call Officer Larry Mitchell, you just look for her. Please"- he said hanging up and calling Mitchell.

-"CSI Morgan Brody is missing. She has disappeared from 27 Vermillion Avenue. Yes, I know. Put all your available men on it NOW"- his tone was frantic.

-"Sir, what can I do to help?"- he had pieced together enough from Conrad's conversations to know Morgan was missing and he wasn't just going to stay here and do nothing.

-"You need to remain here and continue doing your job. I know you want to go out there and help the search but you are more useful here solving the case"- he pre-emptively told him- "I also want to be out there but I have to coordinate everything. I've already called a man hunt on the main suspect and they are looking for her. There's nothing more we can do".

He sounded defeated as he said those last words. He didn't feel much better. This reminded both of them of the events of 5 months ago.

-"I understand sir"- he acquiesced and more gently he said- "They'll find her soon Conrad".

-"Your mother is right. You are a good man Hodges".

The emotional moment passed and the cold hard reality hit them. Hodges concentrated harder still on finding a match for the spore while Ecklie got on the phone again to keep track of the search.

-"She is alright. She has to be alright. Our last moment together can't be a fight"- Those dark thoughts tormented him as he worked. What would he do if his best friend didn't make it? It was too painful to even consider it.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

-"Hey, are you going to be sleeping all day?"- the voice sounded muffled like it came from under water.

-"Are you going to continue slacking off lazy bones?"- despite the teasing words, the tone was affectionate and warm.

-"They need you out there. Get up!"- this time it sounded crystal clear and she thought she recognised the voice.

-"Hodges?"- she was surprised at how hoarse and weak her voice sounded.

-"She's woken up!"- a female voice shouted.

-"How are her vitals?"- a bright light blinded her.

-"Pupils are equal and reactive. Pulse is normal"- she informed the other person and then asked her- "Do you know where you are? Can you tell me where it hurts? Please, don't move".

-"I was... I was chasing a suspect and someone must have hit me from behind. I think it was Martin Clegane but I couldn't see him. My head hurts a lot".

-"I'm sure it does. You received a pretty nasty blow with a blunt object"- said the male paramedic and to the woman- "So Glasgow Scale 15. She is going to be okay".

She was starting to recover all her mental faculties. She knew better this time than to try to get out of the EMT's stretcher. She was aware of the mayhem of policemen setting the perimeter. She hoped her father hadn't gotten too worried and then she remembered the fingerprints she had left running and the words of Clegane... what had she fucked up?

-"Morgan!"- Finn was running towards her- "We were worried sick. Your father was ordering everybody like a general with his army out to find you".

She certainly could imagine that.

-"I'm okay. Don't worry. It's just a scratch. As soon as they let me go, we are closing this case"- she tried to put on a big grin but the superficial injuries she had gotten in the fall, specially the gash in her cheek, hurt quite a bit and she flinched.

-"Yep, those assholes are going to wish they hadn't been born"- she smiled back.

Officer Mitchell approached them.

-"Brody, are you okay?"

-"Yes, I'm fine"- she was already getting tired of the question and the day was young.

-"I'm glad we found you. Your father is making my men crazy"- he tried to lighten the conversation with a joke before getting into more important matters- "What happened?"

-"I saw Martin Clegane and another man fighting. He was a tall white man, a bit over 6 feet, like 6 feet 3 inches, with dark hair and tattoos on his arms. He was wearing a sleveless light-coloured shirt and dark coloured pants"- she tried to be as through as possible in her description -"My cell phone was out of battery so I couldn't call for you guys. I tried telling them to stop but they tried to escape. I chased the dark haired guy until he jumped on his bike and then I suppose Clegane had returned and he sneaked up on me and hit me in the back but I didn't see his face so I'm not sure. I think I heard him say I had fucked everything".

-"Did you get the brand and model or the license plate number of the motorbike?"- he was all business.

-"I think it was an older model of Harley Davidson. The license plate was covered in mud and dirt so the only things I managed to discern were the number 3 and the letter F. I know it's not much to go on. Sorry".

-"Don't worry too much about it. These guys will use any trick to make the license plate illegible"- he reassured her.

-"Have you found anything?-"- she asked both of them.

-"We finally got the ATM tapes. My men have given them to your guy in the Lab, Archie".

-"Do you remember the prints you left running?"- Finn got her up to speed- "We got a hit in AFIS. They belong to a Martin Atkins of Chicago. His record was classified and we couldn't access it".

-"We are working to find out who blocked them and get permission to access them. I can't think of many reasons we have restricted access to his file"- explained Mitchell.

-"I'm sorry I didn't go with you to check the prints"- Finn apologised.

-"Don't be. You were preparing the reconstruction. Tell me, did you figure it out?"- Morgan was curious to know.

-"There had to have been two people. Someone blocked the trajectory of the blood that splashed from the execution shot of the mother. I'm a hundred per cent positive on that".

-"The father must have had an accomplice" -Mitch interjected.

-"I'm not so sure it was him. Something about what he said and everything else doesn't feel right"- Morgan voiced her suspicions.

-"Do you think he is trying to pay up a ransom and you interrupted it?"- asked Finn.

-"I don't know. It didn't seem that way either. They were fighting. I want to talk with an sketch artist to get my description of that guy".

-"Whatever it is, we'll find out when we catch him"- concluded Mitchell - "Now you need to get that looked up at the hospital".

As if on cue, the paramedics started lifting the stretcher into the ambulance.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

Ecklie entered his Lab in a hurry. It was hard to read in his face what kind of news he had.

-"They've found her and she is okay"- suddenly he felt like he could breath again - "Can you take a break from work? I'm going to the hospital and I can give you a lift if you want to come".

-"Yes"- he said without giving it a second thought. He promised himself to tear them a new asshole to anyone who dared talk badly of Ecklie in his presence. He also felt bad for having badmouthed him so many times because their rivalry with the Day Shift and Ecklie and Grissom's enmity- "Thank you".

The ride there seemed eternal. Both men were silent as they crossed the heavily illuminated avenues. Las Vegas doesn't sleep, not even at four in the morning.

The air was chilly when they left the car and entered the noisy halls of the hospital. In the front desk, after Ecklie identified himself, the nurse in charge told them that she was in Observation Room 12 on the first floor.

When they got there the nurse was giving her the last stitches to a gash just below her left eye. She had several small lacerations on her cheeks, jaw, nose and forehead and the big gash the nurse was treating. She also had a bandage covering the back of her head but she was smiling at the nurse, talking about something with her and that calmed him a bit. Seeing her injured had made his blood pressure go over the roof. He just wanted to go over and hold her hand, maybe even hug her to make sure she was really okay and safe... but he wasn't sure she was even going to want to see him.

A nurse came by to ask who they were and Conrad had to give some explanations again to him and to the doctor who came by. The physician, Elena Mckay told them that she was okay. She had been given a head CT scan since she had lost her conciousness just to be sure but there had been nothing wrong on it. Her injuries had been cleaned and treated and they just wanted to have her in observation for a pair of hours. Conrad thanked both of them and entered the room but Hodges decided to wait outside.

He told himself he just didn't want to intrude in the father-daughter moment but really he was scared of being rejected. Perhaps that was too strong a word for it... it wasn't like he was asking her out... What was that about asking her out? He felt like his thoughts were betraying him. Memories of the time they were there during Conrad's surgery flashed in his mind. The soft pressure of her lips, the awkward taste of lipstick mixed with tears and her sweet sad eyes looking intently at him. He had wanted her like he had wanted no one but he didn't want to take advantage of her because he knew she was just in a fragile state because of his father's uncertain fate and that as soon as it passed, she would realise that she didn't love him that way and not only his heart would break, but he would lose the friendship of the best person he'd ever met.

Suddenly it became all too clear to him why he hadn't told her about Elisabetta. He was a fucking coward and he had just been lying to himself. While it was true that he didn't want to be pitied and that he wasn't sure he was prepared to expose his heart again, that was just a small part of it. He had suppressed his feelings for Morgan for so long, he had been lying to himself for ages and he was scared of finally having no excuse not to pursue the relationship he desired because he was terrified of losing her. The contradiction in all that is that he seemed to be pushing her away anyway. He had been too frightened of doing anything that could mess up their relationship, that he was spoiling it and all that without even fully realising it.

And now that he was starting to grasp his feelings, what? The vessels in his brain throbbed, he was giving himself a migraine. He considered just leaving until he had his ideas clear but Morgan was hurt and he had been a jerk and she deserved some answers whatever their future was. He strolled to the doorway hesitating on whether or not to enter. Would he even be welcomed?

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

The stay in the hospital hadn't been as boring as she thought. The nurse that was treating her wounds, Aliyah, was close to her in age and had been telling her everything about her crush on her co-worker Darryl who was the nurse in charge of the odd numbered rooms in this wing of the hospital. She was very cute talking about how he always offered to help with her rooms. Morgan wondered if there was still some of that soft innocence inside her after all the horrible things she had seen on her job and everything that had happened to her. Sometimes she felt very twisted inside but right now she had some tiny little hope.

-"Sweetheart. Thank god you are okay"- her dad looked really glad to see she was fine.

-"I'm sorry to have worried you dad".

-"Why didn't you wait for back up? Why did you have to chase them?"- flashbacks of her dad reprimanding her after having swum too far into the ocean when she was a kiddo resurfaced.

-"My phone was dead and there was nobody else so I had to do it".

-"I just want you to be safe".

-"I am safe dad".

He hugged her like he thought she could disappeared at any moment and she was very glad she hadn't broken any ribs.

-"I'm sorry sweetie but I'm going to have to go now to coordinate the man hunt. I want to catch the animal who did this to you. Unless you need me to stay..."

-"No, you go. I'm okay. I'm actually having a nice time"- Conrad made a weird face- "Yeah, I never thought I'd say that either".

-"Well, David Hodges came with me. He is just outside. He said something about not wanting to bother you. Do I tell him to come in?"- Conrad seemed curious about the hesitancy of Hodges.

-"Tell him to stop being such a big baby and just come inside"- she said chuckling. She was remembering the hallucination she had just before waking up after the attack.

-"Oy, don't call me a baby"- said David entering the room.

-"Drop the indignant tone, eavesdropper"- she said in an accusatory tone.

-"I... I wasn't eavesdropping... I just"- he was blabbering so she took pity on him.

-"I was just kidding silly"- she teased him -"Well, dad, as you see I'm in capable hands, don't feel bad about going back to work".

-"Goodbye kids".

-"Goodbye sir".

An uncomfortable silent formed itself between the two of them. Hodges was the first to break it.

-"I'm so so sorry. I've been such a bad friend. I was so scared something bad had happened to you and our last encountered had been a fight and it was so stupid of me to push you away"- she heard him swallowing hard before continuing- "Elisabetta and I cancelled the wedding because we didn't want the same things and because we just weren't right for each other. You tried to warn me about that, didn't you? I'm sorry I didn't tell you before".

And just with that any little smidgen of resentment she may have felt, dissolved. He was so vulnerable she wanted to squeeze him close but she feared that like a scaredy cat or a wild animal, he might flee if she approached him too strong.

-"I already knew it"- she confessed.

-"How... ?"- Morgan saw Hodges put 2 and 2 together = Finn in his brain -"Oh, of course".

-"Why did you hide it from me?"- she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer... but she couldn't help asking.

-"The truth is...".

He started to answer but was interrupted by Aliyah that came back to check her vitals, after all she was in observation. She regained her annoyance at hospitals.

-"We'll talk later. Can you tell me if you've discovered something about the traces I left with you?"

-"It was hard but I managed to identify a type of zygospore. I hadn't heard of it because it's only common in coastal cities. I don't know how it ended in Las Vegas but it's certainly something unique around here. If you manage to find the source, you'll have found out your criminal".

-"Wow, that's great Hodges"- he always managed to come to the rescue with the information they needed to arrest the culprits. Aliyah finished taking her vitals and left the room.

-"Well, I'm going to let you rest"- he tried to say his farewell.

-"No way. Now that I have new information, I can't stay here. Help me get my stuff!"

The look of perplexity on his face was priceless.

* * *

**A/N:** Do you think I'm going too slow? Too fast? Do you want to see them together N-O-W? Do you want me to torture them slowly? XDDD Poor poor characters in my evil hands. I think I'm actually treating them very well :P Well, tell me what you think in a review. I love to read them, they are my life force. And now this slacker is going back to study like a good girl. Have an awesome week and an awesome life! PS: I almost forgot to post this today XDDD


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.

**A/N:** Were you frustrated by the interruption? If I was the one reading it, I would be XD Not that I'm sure that Hodges would have actually confessed. I don't think he sees himself as worthy of Morgan. He thinks he is too old and too cynical and jaded. I would like to give him a whack on the head so he stopped undermining himself. I hope Morgan can convince him that his sarcastic personality and his goodness make him very attractive before it's just too late. I'm ranting, aren't I? XD I was re-reading the last two chapters just now before writing this one and it was super depressing the massive number of typos and errors that had escaped my previous editing *sighs*

Thanks again for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting this fanfic! I wouldn't find the will to write otherwise. This week some IRL friends might be reading this and that's mighty embarrassing but also it makes my heart warm so I dedicate this chapter to all of my friends who've made it this far!

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

That, he hadn't been expecting and his mind debated between feeling exasperated about her recklessness or admiring her dedication. Truthfully he should have already known she wasn't going to stay put because she wouldn't be Morgan otherwise. He sighed internally like a long suffering parent with a mischievous child. But then he heard her chuckle at his expression and it made him feel that being a jester would be the best job in the world if it was on her court. What a random and creepy thought to have. Was he sure he wasn't the one that had hit his head?

-"Here, have your stuff"- he said picking it up from the chair besides her bed- "Should I even bother to tell you that leaving the hospital against the doctor's orders is one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had and your dad is going to kill us both if he finds out?"- he inquired.

-"You aren't going to change my mind and you know it so you can help me get out of here and accompany me to the Lab or I can wait until you've gone, sign the voluntary discharge and get a taxi by myself"- what a devilish, no, scratch that, what an impish smile she had while she subtly manipulated him into accepting.

-"Okay,okay. You've convinced me"- he said after sighing loudly- "I'm so dead when Conrad finds out"- he thought to himself.

-"Don't be melodramatic"- she chastised him about the sighing- "I'm going to change know so if you don't mind"- she signed him to turn around and she started to untie the knots that secured her hospital gown.

David turned his back to her quickly barely containing the impulse to just get out of the room where he would be out of danger. That was a childish impulse, it's not like he was a horny adolescent who was going to try to take a peek at her body.

Still it seemed like the seconds were dragging their feet like rebellious teenagers on their way to a boring ceremony and he couldn't completely ignore that a beautiful woman he desired was completely nude behind him. His traitorous mind didn't doubt to provide him with an abundant supply of images of her and his imagination filled the gaps. He felt himself beginning to blush and something more down below as he thought about how Morgan's body would feel flush against him, the warmth seeping from her as he clutched her tightly in his embrace, bothering that soft skin until it got red and achy with need.

He stopped himself right then and there feeling even worse than if he was a peeping tom. He tried somewhat successfully to think of something disgusting like human remains or having to eat a very nasty and full of germs spoilt mayonnaise (Salmonella could be very dangerous!) to kill off his hard on.

-"Hey, you can look now"- she informed him but he still took a few seconds of breathing in and out before doing it.

-"Well, that took you long enough. Let's go".

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

She couldn't deny she had felt a certain amount of satisfaction at bewildering her friend but after asking him to turn around she had felt a little self concious changing in the same room as him after so many mind-fucking dreams. She thought that it was only the difficulty of untying those damn little knots with her scratched hands that had prevented her from duelling too much on the issue. She would have preferred to die on the spot than relive her fantasies in that situation.

After signing all the necessary documents to the opposition of McKay, they stopped a taxi to the Lab. Hodges helped her get inside and she found it funny that he seemed to be trying to help her while at the same time trying to touch her as little as possible. Maybe changing in the same room as him had been too much for the poor man. She felt the irrepressible need to tease him a bit so she inched closer to him in the seat.

-"Where are you going lads?"- a sixty something year old man asked them.

He gave him the address as he tried to make himself one with the door to escape her approach. She didn't try to get closer to him. Teasing him was one thing but torturing him so much that he jumped out of a running car was quite another.

She settled into her seat as the radio started to play "She keeps me warm" by Mary Lambert. The easy repetitive rhythm of the song seemed to make Hodges calmer because he visibly relaxed and stopped trying to fuse himself with the door. The lyrics were simple but very sweet and she kept refraining the urge to caress the hand that Hodges had hanging by his side. She was sure he would jump if she tried.

They just stayed side by side in silent companionship until they got to the Lab where each of them parted to continue their work.

* * *

Today wasn't her lucky day for sure but she felt her luck was changing when she managed to find Finn and Mitchell together in the first examination room she entered.

-"Hey. Glad to see you out and about. The hospital staff couldn't put up with you anymore and they decided to release you, didn't they?"- Finn was beaming at her while she tried to pull her leg.

-"Hello Brody. I hope you are feeling better?"- his tone seemed to imply he was wondering why they had released her so soon.

-"Hi guys. Don't worry, I'm completely fine"- she said omitting her voluntary discharge.

-"Well, in that case we have news that are quite incredible"- Finn seemed very eager to tell her.

-"Yes, a judge approved our request and we gained access to the confidential files of Martin Atkins. He used to be a cop".

-"A cop?"- she wasn't expecting that.

-"Yes, he worked in an undercover drug unit mission. We managed to talk to some of his superiors and his partner is coming to the Station"- they had been working diligently in the time she'd spent in the hospital- "He was working an Ireland drug ring led by the MacAuliffe Family of south-west Munster in Chicago. His superiors have told me that they got three strong convictions out of the information he got but that later, after the operation had ended, he decided to quit the force because of the psychological trauma he'd accrued during the undercover stint".

-"And then he changed his name and moved to New York where he go married and had a daughter"- concluded Finn.

-"Why did he change his name? Was it because he feared retaliation or was there something else?"- that was the question that was on their three minds and she was just voicing it out loud.

-"I just hope the interview with his old partner will give us more information"- Mitchell didn't seem too convinced- "If we could just get our hands on that slimy assassin cop".

-"You still believe he is the killer one hundred percent?"- she was curious.

-"Yes, I do and I promised the parents of the little boy, Colin Addams, that I would do everything in my hand to find him and bring him to justice"- he was pretty solemn as he said it.

She couldn't imagine how hard it could be to lose a son and in such a cruel way. Her own father had been too close to having to identify her corpse. She wanted to get to work soon and just concentrate on that.

-"Morgan, would you mind going to check how's Archie doing and go around to Henry's too?"- asked Finn- "I just need to write down all the new information to see if I can get anything else out of it".

-"Sure, I'm going right now"- she quickly acquiesced- "Bye Mitchell" - she wished him luck with catching Martin but she was less and less convinced he was the culprit.

* * *

-"Hey Archie!"- she greeted the usually hyper tech.

-"Hi... oh God. what happen to your face?"- he might be the only person in the Lab who hadn't find out about her ordeal.

-"I just really wanted the last piece of pizza. You don't want to see how the other one ended"- she dead panned him.

-"Seriously, did something happen to you? I've been watching all the ATM footage of the last week of your case non-stop"- he sounded worried.

-"It really was nothing. I just got a small concussion from the suspect in our case. I'm good as new"- she reassured him- "Now, what do you have for me?"

-"In the past week I've seen the same vehicle parked during a long period of time on three occasions. Last night two men got out of it and entered the building".

-"Does anyone of them match the description of the suspect? Is one of them a big dark haired thug?" -She bombarded him with questions- "Is there footage of them leaving with the girl?"

-"Easy there"- he tried to slow the avalanche of inquiries- "One of them might match the description of Martin Clegane but it was dark and the car blocked most of the image so even my uncle Lin could match the description. The other one seems to fit the description you just gave me. Look"- he said showing her the enlarge imaged quite distorted by the zooming of someone who looked like the large man that had escaped on the Harley- "You already know that the ATM cam only works when someone is taking out money and unluckily nobody was there when they got out. I imagine they waited until the street was empty before leaving".

-"Can you get anything else out of it?"- she was running out of hope.

-"I think I can get a plate number but it's going to take a good while. Cleaning the image is a pretty slow process you know"- he seemed to be regretful he couldn't offer more to help find the girl.

-"Yes, I know but thanks a lot. This is really going to help"- they would have something to work with soon. That was great news- "Have you told Officer Mitchell?"

-"I was just about to call him"- he admitted.

-"Well, then I'm not going to keep entertaining you"- she made her goodbyes- "Page me as soon as you get anything on the License Plate Number"

-"Okay. Try to not get whacked on the head again"- he told her.

-"I'll try"- she said chuckling.

* * *

The visit to Henry didn't provide anything useful as the DNA was still in the middle of the process and Henry reminded her he couldn't rush the DNA polymerasa and she of course had to agree. They had a DNA sample of Martin Atkins now from his time as a cop so now they would be able to compare it with the unknown samples they had gotten from the fingernails of Jennifer's mother Vanessa and of Colin.

She exited the DNA quarters and pressed her forehead against the glass to cool it. Greg happened to pass by in that precise moment.

-"Hey, how are you doing?"- oh, that question again- "Do you have a head-ache? Are you sure you should be out of the hospital?"

-"I'm okay Greg. It's just that this is a pretty hard case"- Greg was always caring about everybody in the Lab so she didn't want to worry him.

-"That's good to hear but if you aren't feeling completely al right, just tell me and I'll drive you myself to the hospital".

-"Thanks Greg. I'll do"- she smiled at him thankful for the offer although the more pig-headed part of her brain completed the sentence with "over my dead body" because she really wanted to find Jennifer before anything bad happened to her and time was running out.

-"Take care Morgan"- and with that he entered Henry's Lab.

She decided to go see if Hodges had something for her although she knew it was really unlikely and she just wanted to chat with him for a bit and clear her ideas.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

-"So you are telling me that he was an undercover cop that changed again his identity and maybe a drug Family chased him here to make him pay for sending some of its members to prison?"- it sounded a little far-fetched.

-"I know it sounds like an over elaborated tale but there's more. It seems like Martin Atkins was fighting with one of the killers. Maybe he was one of his contacts from those days. Maybe he didn't even know he was involved in the murder and kidnapping for sure"- she seemed to be having trouble fitting all the information and impressions she'd gathered together.

-"This is looking more and more like that episode of Castle in which there's that spy game or maybe like the one with the Mafia"- he wondered aloud.

-"You are a fan of Castle?"- she asked with curiosity.

-"Of course not. My mother loves the actor of Castle so I've watched one episode or two when I was over for dinner"- he tried to minimize his guilty pleasure secret.

She stared at him.

-"Okay, more like a season or two and then I had to know what had happened to Becket's mother and well... yeah I'm a fan, happy?"- he reluctantly admitted.

-"Was that so hard?"- she lightly teased him- "You've never been ashamed of your nerdy interest and now you try to hide something to what most people wouldn't give a second thought?"- she smiled- "Sometimes you are flabbergasting".

He didn't know if he should feel flattered or insulted so he picked the former.

-"Thank you"- he comically puffed out like a proud peacock in order to get an smile from her.

-"Don't be silly"- she laughed at his mock preening.

She had entered the room kind of low of morale and depressed and she now was laughing and happy. He still felt he should never pursue a relationship with her. He was too old, too much of a jerk and a complete emotional mess. He saw the world like a place where people screwed one another constantly. He was never going to be good enough for her as a partner but he had just proved that he could be the good friend that pulled her up when she was feeling down and that was all he thought he could ask for.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, what did you think about today's chappie? There was more interaction between our protagonists for sure. Was it interesting? credible? too corny? Do you want to kick Hodges for being such a Dobby Downer? What do you think about the case? I admit that I'm a total perv and that I enjoy putting my characters in uncomfortable situations. Such fun! (this last joke will only be understood by fans of the TV series Miranda). Anyway, please tell me what you thought in a review in that box just below. I'm really looking forward to reading what you think because it's the only way I'm going to improve and I want to! As I'm not posting before then, I want to wish you Happy holidays! Season's Greetings my dear readers!

PS: Sorry for posting so late. I took too long to write. My complete fault.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.

**A/N:** Did you guys have a nice time? I'm still on Holidays but with a big to-do list I'm completely ignoring because what's better than procrastinate until the last moment and then freak out trying to finish everything in a flurry of stress and anxiety? XD For instance, today's Thursday and here I am writing this weeks chapter at the last moment. The worst par is that obviously I didn't sleep much this last couple of days so be prepared to trudge through this typo-filled mine field because my attention span is comparable to Dory's memory in Finding Nemo.

I'm incredibly grateful with all of you for taking the time to read my fanfic. Thanks a lot to everybody who followed, favourited or reviewed this fanfic. Electronic hugs for everybody. Onto the show now!

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Laughing and grinning were two inadvisable things to do when you didn't want to mess up the stitches that spread through your cheek.

-"Awww, awww, it hurts"- she said trying to maintain a neutral face to make the pain better.

-"Be careful with your stitches"- advised Hodges.

-"Well, stop making me laugh"- she complained.

-"It's not my fault that I am so incredibly funny"- he teased her.

-"Youuu...".

-"What have I said?"- He gave her a big innocent smile.

-"Oh, nothing, nothing but if I were you, I'd be careful from now on".

-"What do you mean by that?"

-"Who knows? *cough* payback is coming *cough*".

-"Uhh, I'm scared"- he wasn't even trying to be convincing.

-"Oh, you should be"- trying to repress grinning was hard when she was having such a good time- "Well, I gotta go catch a head-basher and some murderers"- She thought of something then- "I've been planning to try that new Mexican restaurant that's opened near Henderson Street. Would you like having breakfast with me?"

-"Sure. Count me in"- he really had a nice smile when he wasn't being grouchy.

-"Then, it's a date".

Hodges made a weird face at the expression but she bolted, not giving him time to ask anything.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

She surely hadn't really meant anything by "It's a date". It was simply something that people say. Also people had dates with friends, right? right?! Maybe she had just been teasing him... after all that's what they had been doing instants before, just a bit of banter-y fun? He wasn't the type to over-think stuff or at least he thought so...

He then remembered how he had actually messed up his chances with Wendy at the start by over-analysing the consequences it might have on his job performance and the urge to hit his head against something from some hours prior returned. He had been such an idiot... but this time it was different, he shouldn't get involved with her. She would be happier with someone who had more things in common with her, someone closer to her in age.

He tried imagining her with a good-looking intelligent guy and it made him mad because internally he thought of most guys as jerks who would mistreat her. He was the worst, like the dog in the manger from the Aesop's fable. He knew he would get super jealous of whoever dated Morgan but he would have to learn to deal with it and this breakfast would be the first step in letting go.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Unaware of Hodges freak out, Morgan was examining Finn's report.

-"I'm sorry I wasn't around to help"- she said apologetically.

-"No prob. Next time I'll let myself be hit in the head to take a nice hospital vacation"- she winked at her.

-"Come on, don't make me laugh. The doctor is going to kill me if after getting voluntarily discharged, I have to return to get re-stitched. Oh, damn!- she realised too late she had spilled the beans- "You aren't going to tell Russell, right?"

-"Ha, I knew it. I'd have done exactly the same so I'm not going to tell but take it easy girl"- she patted her on the back.

-"So, from the look of things the sequence of events is pretty clear".

-"Yes, they used some ruse to get Vanessa to open the door and they overpowered her creating the blood stains on the hall".

-"They took her to the living room and tied her. In the middle of that the kids came and were easily reduced"- her tone was clinical and detached because that was the only way not to get emotional at such a gruesome crime.

-"Then the little boy was tortured in front of the woman to make her talk. Given how disfigured he was, we can extrapolate they didn't get what they wanted"- there was despise in her tone.

-"And they had to get rid of them now they were useless to them so while one held the child, the other shoot the mother and then they executed the poor boy".

-"Everything with the little girl looking as her mother and her friend were injured and then killed. We really need to find her"- she closed her eyes momentarily to gather strength.

-"We will"- she put her hand on her shoulder- "We are good at this and criminals always make mistakes".

Morgan's phone rang. It was Officer Mitchell.

-"We caught the bastard"- his voice was distorted by all the noisy traffic of people going to their morning jobs. Transit in Vegas was as dense as pea soup so people usually got up really early to avoid the worse of it but, since many people thought the same, rush hour just started one hour earlier usually- "A patrol man recognised him and after a fifteen minute chase he was apprehended. I decided to take him there myself. I'm not taking chances this time. I'll be there in five. Do you want to interrogate him with me?"

-"Yeah. I hope he is more cooperative than last time although I doubt it.

-"Me too. See you in Interrogation Room number 3 in ten minutes.

-"I'll be there"- and she cut the call and sighed- "I really hope he is right and he is the culprit or at least gives us some useful information.

-"Hey, why are you so convinced he is innocent? You've thought so practically from the start".

-"I wish I could tell you exactly why but it's not much more than a hunch that I hope we can find evidence to support. A hunch without something to support it… it's basically useless".

-"Well, with the interview you'll get your chance to try and prove it.

-"Yeah, I've gotta get going"- she hoped some of her workmate's optimism would infect her.

* * *

Interrogations were on the low part of her preferred job tasks' mental list, they were just above paperwork. The sterile looking rooms were boring and people were completely defensive or defenseless when they were in that situation.

She got there with time to spare so she got herself a coke to sip during the interview. A pair of uniforms came hauling Martin who wasn't exactly putting up a fight, more like behaving like dead weight. His face was expressionless, almost completely empty except that when you looked deep into his eyes you could see badly masked despair.

Mitch was just behind supervising it. He nodded in her direction when he saw her.

-"He hasn't said anything at all"- he told her- "The arresting officers told me he clammed up and the only reason they could identify him was because, apart from fitting the description, he had his car license in his wallet along other identifying documents. Let's go inside".

She shook her head affirmatively and they entered the room where Martin had been secured.

-"Look what the cat dragged in CSI Brody. Are you ready to tell us why did you torture and kill your wife and where's your daughter?"

He didn't even blink, just blankly stared at them.

-"Did you just finally had enough of your wife Mr. Atkins?"- at the mention of his former name, he reacted with surprise- "Oh, we do know who you are. Are you going to talk now?"

He could have been just a rock for all the response he showed. Mitchell banged on the metal table.

-"What have you done with your daughter? Is she even alive or did you just killed her because she annoyed you asking for her mommy?"- his tone was growing angrier by the minute.

-"Aren't you going to answer me you piece of shit?"

Martin stared at them with a bland expression and Mitchell kind of lost it. He grabbed him by the lapels and started shaking him.

-"You are going to tell me where the girl is NOW!"- he yelled at him- "and for your own good I hope she isn't injured. You don't know what they do in prison to people who hurt their own kids".

-"Mitch, a minute?"- she tried to talk him down.

-"Ehm"- he untangled himself from the suspect- "Sure Morgan".

They went out of the room and when she was about to close the room she saw that Martin was clenching his hands so tight that a bit of blood had stained his cream trousers.

-"I know I lost it there"- Officer Mitchell apologized- "I'm sorry. It's just…"

-"I know. This is hard for me too and it seems he isn't going to talk for now"- she said in an effort to clear the air- "We definitely need some leverage"- she added- "Also, you need to consider, as far-fetched as it may sound and no matter how guiltily he is behaving, that this is payback from the drug bust all those years ago".

-"Right"- he acquiesced- "His old partner's plane will land in 2 hours approximately. Some policemen will escort him here. I take it you are not going home so use these 2-3 hours to get some sleep and food in. Tell Finlay to do the same".

-"Yes, dad"- she thought to herself. She should be glad Russell seemed to be too busy today to manage them because he would have made them go home or at least really tried. Well, at least she would really have time to take a good long hot shower before going to have breakfast with Hodges- "Please, page me as soon as he lands".

-"Will do. Get some rest!"

"You too".

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

She swung by to ask if he'd be able to take a break in half an hour to go have breakfast. He tried to be as casual as possible as he assented and run towards Henry's Lab.

-"Henry, please, I gotta go do something. Take care of the stuff I have running"- he tried putting on a winning smile but it didn't seem to work for him.

-"No, I'm swamped with my own work. I can't be going from one lab to the other all the time"- he completely refused.

-"It won't be too long... maybe 1 or 2 hours".

-"What?! Are you crazy? How long of a break do you intend to take? Russell is going to kill you".

-"It's just..."- he didn't want to tell him the truth but he didn't want to lie to him either but a lie by omission didn't seem too bad- "You know Morgan suffered an assault today and ended in the hospital"- Henry nodded- "Well, she has asked me to go with her to have breakfast and talk. She isn't completely fine. I really shouldn't be telling you much of this".

-"Oh I understand. Take as long as you need"- what a good friend he was- "You'll repay it to me with interest, right?"- and not a fool at all it seemed.

-"Of course"- he said grumbling.

-"Then, deal"- Henry said grinning- "Have a great time with Morgan!"

* * *

He returned to his Lab. He let everything ready in five minutes and run to get a quick shower and a clean change of clothes.

He liked his Bordeaux red shirt and he wouldn't stuck out too much with these not too dressy trousers and black shoes neither in a fancy restaurant nor in a run down joint.

He waited for Morgan just outside the door pacing up and down to calm his budding nerves. How could he convince his unconscious that they were just friends so it shouldn't get anxious. It was a losing battle.

Then she appeared and came down the stairs. She was always pretty but with her hair still wet from the shower, that Rock Hard Café t-shirt and snug jeans she was gorgeous. His so important plan completely left his mind the moment she said hi with her pretty smile.

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

Hodges seemed to be trying to dig a hole with his pacing. He was so cute when he was nervous. At the start, she just had really wanted to have a nice breakfast in the middle of this chaotic gesture but the joke of this being a date and all the events in these last days have made her feel that if she didn't do something soon, Hodges would drift away and that it would be a cold day in hell when he would act on his feelings so the ball was in her court.

She had had plenty of crushes but she had always had the help of her Los Angeles girl friends to help clue the guy in. The idea of asking for help with Hodges from the people in the Lab sounded absolutely awful and Hodges, being so self concious, wouldn't appreciate it at all. What's more... she was pretty certain he would think they were playing a prank on him...

So she already knew she had to be super direct, super clear and more importantly unmoving because not even kissing him had been enough last time. What a pity you couldn't buy him self-esteem in the supermarket...

Jokes apart, she really didn't have much confidence and seeing him standing there so handsome but so nervous too made her want to squish him between her arms.

-"Hi"- she tried to communicate part of what she felt with her smile- "You didn't have to wait too long, right?"

-"Not at all. Where is this Mexican place exactly"- he offered her her arm and she took it.

She started explaining and soon all the nervousness on both parts was gone.

This was a good start but there was no coming back anymore. Now she just needed to go with her plan and hope for the best.

* * *

**A/N: **I thought it was a good place to stop but feel free to "yell" or flame through reviews if you don't agree XD Do you think Morgan will succeed? Eager to see them hooking up? Yes, no? Just tell me by writing it in the box just below. I think the case will be wrapped up in two more chapters unless these two hijack next week's chappie.

I wish all of you a really Happy New Year. Try not to make New Year resolutions 'though. You always end up breaking them and feeling bad with yourself XD Just kidding. Speaking about that I vow not to write the chapter the same day I'm publishing it... at least next week's XP Oh gosh, when I'm sleepy my jokes get even worse and that's a pretty big feat.

PS: FFdotNet didn't let me post the chapter for hours. I was about to throw the computer through a window but I realised that wouldn't be too productive...


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from the CSI franchise. I play with the characters but unfortunately I can't keep them. Otherwise, I'd have a few of them chained to a bed in my non-existent basement and you should be glad I don't own it because I'd add so many hook ups that they would have to change its name to Grey's Anatomy j/k.

**A/N:** The date starts! I've been waiting a long time to get here so I'm a bit thrilled but I'd like another week of time to prepare it... It has been hectic trying to get any writing done in the middle of the celebrations, family visits, present shopping and such. Also, sleep deprivation and travelling from the North to the South of Spain after eating the grapes (in Spain we eat 12 grapes with the chimes of the clock into the New Year) aren't the most powerful motivators. This is an important chapter so I hope I don't fuck it up. You tell me. PS: I already broke the vow not to write this chapter the same day I'm supposed to be publishing it but to add insult to injury I'm taking way too long in finishing this chappie. I'm sorry T_T At least this is a bit longer than normal and that's even after I accidentally deleted a good chunk and had to rewrite it but that's no excuse. Sorry.

Thanks to my new readers and to those of you who've reviewed, favourited or followed my little fic. For those of you who've watched the last episode of "How I met your Mother", you are all adorable and hilarious ;D

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

The restaurant was actually quite close, just a 15 minute walk, so they decided to take a stroll. Even before taking on the Night Shift, he had been kind of a night owl but now going to bed when everybody was starting their day, felt as natural as breathing. The sunlight rays were still weak and couldn't completely fend off against the chilly breeze of the early morning but the warm body next to his more than neutralised it.

Morgan was telling him that she was still wondering about the words that Martin Clegane or Atkins or however he was called had shouted at her when he stroke her. It sounded like he might have been negotiating some kind of ransom pay but there weren't any signs of the kidnappers making any demands... at least that they knew. It didn't fit inside her head why was Martin talking with the person who had kidnapped her daughter and not bashing his head in against some wall for example. At times it made her think Officer Mitchell might be right.

Other things were troubling her, like what information they were trying to get out of the victims going as far as torturing them. If it was simply to punish Martin for getting them on prison, why not simply kill him off when that tall muscle-y guy had seen him? Also she knew he was like a pressure cooker inside, no matter the calm façade he had on. He had so much trouble repressing it in that he had made himself bleed by clawing his own fingernails into his skin.

-"It's no use getting all worked up about the puzzle. Until you get all the pieces, you aren't going to be able to solve it so just try to channel your energies on something else"- What a Zen thing to say but it was the best advice he had at the moment- "When his police partner arrives, I'm sure things will become clearer and you'll solve it".

-"Sorry for rambling. You agree to have breakfast with me and I go on and on about the case"- she apologised.

-"I like hearing you talk"- oh, why did he have to be so blatantly obvious- " a-and I am really interested in this case. You know I love to talk about work"- and now he sounded like a workaholic.

-"About new forensic techniques maybe, not about field work"- she pointed out, apparently totally non-plussed about the earlier part of his sentence.

-"True. I don't know why you CSIs love to go to those places filled with grime and dirt"- he almost shivered at the thought of dumpster diving for evidence.

-"It can be fun. Sometimes we play rock-paper-scissors for the most disgusting tasks but I get that a germaphobe like you would have to have at least 30 showers after spending even an hour in some of the scenes"- she teased him.

-"Hey, I'm not a germaphobe"- she didn't seem impressed at his statement- "I just have a healthy sense of personal hygiene".

-"Right..."- she seemed to doubt his statement- "I'm sure you wouldn't even be able to share food with another person because you'd be scared of catching something".

-"Ermm... of course I'd be able to do that"- he answered quickly with his ego slightly bruised.

-"Nice to know"- the mischievousness of her smile disquieted him.

* * *

They chit-chatted some more until they were at the door of the restaurant and they had to disentangle themselves. He knew it had been a bad idea from the start to offer his arm but the feeling of emptiness when he let her arm go caught him by surprise. He found himself searching for a reason for taking her arm again. Damn himself.

The waiter was a older Mexican man, way into his fifties. He had an easy smile and was really fast on his feet and very agile for someone his age. As soon as he saw them, he picked two menus from a pile and, after asking them if someone else was meant to join them, he walked them to one of the available tables near a big window. The waiter pulled the chair for Morgan before he himself could offer.

The restaurant itself was warm, decorated in bright tones of yellow, red, green, blue and orange, with Mexican art and pictures. Even the lamps were painted in such lively colours giving it a very festive atmosphere. Soft mexican music played in the background. Apart from them, the restaurant was pretty empty, there were just three men having a hearty breakfast in one table and a couple that looked like tourists enjoying some extravagant dessert. It was a nice place but not exactly romantic and for that he was really grateful. He glanced at his menu. It wasn't his favourite food but they had some dishes that he liked well enough.

He looked up to Morgan who was really concentrated on her menu. A smile rose to his lips at the deep thought she was putting on the decision.

-"Having trouble deciding?"- he inquired.

-"I really like the _Chimichanga_ but I wanted to try these _Tacos Laguneros_. The friend who recommended me this restaurant said they were to die for..."

-"_Bienvenidos_. My name is Mateo. Have you had time to decide? What would like to have _de aperitivos_?"- the waiter was back.

-"Do you like _Nachos con Queso_?"-he nodded affirmatively to her question- "One _ración de Nachos con Queso_ please. What do you recommend for breakfast?"- she asked Mateo.

-"Breafast _burritos_ with rice make are a good way to start the morning with energy and the _Chimichangas_ are my personal favourite".

-"Oh, then I'll have the _Chimichanga_ and some _Jugo de Tamarindo_"- she told the waiter.

-"And I'll have a _Taco Lagunero_ and some _Jugo_ too please"- he really was a suck up...

-"Good choices. Your _Nachos_ will be here shortly"- and he let them to their own devices.

Their conversation drifted to how their parents were doing. They met so frequently that they were wondering when they would hear them announce they were moving in together or even getting married.

-"I think it might still be a bit further down the road since my mother has taking a dislike to weddings after everything that happened with Elisabetta".

-"I don't think my father believes in marriage much after his divorce with my mother either".

-"It can't have been easy to lose his wife and daughter in one go with the move to Los Angeles"- his tone was pensive.

-"Yeah and I was so angry at him for not fighting more for me to stay here. Now I feel so foolish...".

-"You were too young to understand the complicated dynamics of a divorce"- he put his hand over her tiny one trying to soothe away any remaining hurt.

The waiter chose that moment to return with the _Nachos_ and realising what he was doing he took his hand away quickly like it was on fire.

-"No need to be shy"- Mateo said with a knowing smile"- "Couples should be able to be loving in public. What's a bit of PDA"- he seemed to be either ignoring or not understanding all the deadly glares he was sending in his direction. No way in hell he was typing him more than 12%- "Enjoy your _Nachos_"- he left grinning from ear to ear and mouthing something about "_amor en el aire_". It sounded quite ominous to him...

* * *

**Morgan's POV**

-"Thank the person who recommended you this place. These Nachos are scrumptious. Probably the best in the world, not the universe"- he proclaimed.

She didn't know if she believed his over the top statement but she was glad he was enjoying the food. She hadn't been sure Mexican food was his thing but this morning everything seemed to be working like a well oiled engine. It had felt nice to have a walk snuggled against him because it was cold of course! there was no secondary motivation... at all...

Then when they had been talking about her move to L.A. he had tried to make her feel better about it and about her long feud with her father. Then Mateo had broken off the moment. She'd dislike him if it hadn't been so funny see Hodges get all worked up about the waiter confusing his clumsy attempt at withdrawing his hand with shyness about public displays of affection.

-"Believe it or not, it was actually thanks to Catherine Willows. Her sister Nancy came her and loved the place and then Nancy told Catherine and she obviously told Sara and here we are".

-"It sounds a bit like a Chinese Whispers game but with a 100% success rate"- he dead panned.

-"Now that you say it..."- she said smiling- "I used to play that a lot when I was a kid. Once we managed to change "Let's go to Japan to have fun" to "I hope your plane will crash" or something similar".

-"Wow, I hope none of them decided to be pilots".

-"Nah. I think one is a doctor, another a hair stylist, a university Physics Professor and I lost contact with the rest of them".

-"That was a rhetoric question, you know?"- he smirked at her.

-"Hey don't tease me"- she said and accompanied the sentence by taking the last two Nachos for herself- "To teach you a lesson"- she felt tempted to stick out her tongue to add playfulness to the gesture or to add insult to injury depending on the point of view.

As if sensing they had ended their _aperitivos_, the waiter appeared with their orders. A half startled-half panicky expression ran through Hodges' face for little more than a pair of seconds. It probably was due to the heart-shaped mounds of rice on their plates. By his expression, anyone would have said it was human-eating rice or a nasty collection of the love child between Varicella and Ebola Virus.

-"Here are the dishes. If there's anything wrong, don't doubt to call for me. Hope you enjoy!"

-"Everything is perfect"- she answered before Grumpy Dwarf could even think of complaining- "Thank you"- she smiled at him.

Against her pre-emptive attack, he retaliated by starting by the rice and messing up the cute hearts. He certainly could be pig-headed as heck.

-"If you want some, tell me and I'll cute a portion for you"- She almost felt guilty for calling him Grumpy in her head after the offer.

-"Only if you try some of mine"- she quipped back.

* * *

They had been eating while sharing comments of how tasty it was and simply enjoying the meal. No sooner were they finished that Mateo appeared like a ghost from behind her with the Menu of Desserts.

-"Wow you scared me".

-"I'm sorry señorita"- he smiled apologetically- "Do you know what you want?"

-"I'd like some sweet _Enchiladas_"- answered Hodges.

-"Oh, perfect. Those are two people only but I'm sure you'll enjoy feeding the dessert to each other. ¡Qué romántico!"

She hardly suppressed a giggle. If Mateo had been a relative of Hodges she'd be left wondering if he was trying to get Hodges to an early grave via ruptured aneurysm to get his inheritance early...

-"Oh, I'm sure David would love to share it. Didn't you just say you loved sharing the food just moments ago sweetie?"- Perhaps the sweetie had been a bit too much trolling.

He seemed to slowly regained his motor skills but not before the waiter had gone off to order their dessert.

He didn't say anything but he seemed a tiny bit ticked off.

-"Hey, I'm sorry I said that. I didn't want to embarrass you. It was just a bit of innocent fun"- she apologised.

-"I know"- his face softened losing any kind of hardness it may have contained- "I just think you and I shouldn't..."

He was interrupted by the waiter with a plate filled to the brims with chocolate and cream. You could barely see the sweet enchiladas underneath.

"Our cook made it special for you after I told her we had a couple of love birds"- she saw Hodges face palming out of the corner of her eye- "I'll leave you to it. Call me if you need new napkins. I'm at your service".

At this point they were the only people left from the morning hour or so it seemed so they had all the room for themselves granted the exception of the possible visits of the waiter.

-"I think I'm going to need insulin after I finish this"- he joked.

-"And me. Two shots. For sure"- she added and arming herself with courage, continued- "I told you I'm sorry if I've done stuff that has embarrassed you but that doesn't mean I don't like you or that I think a relationship between us is doomed from the start so don't assume that.

He looked surprised and shocked. Maybe not as much at the news but at that she had gotten the courage to take out the open secret. She also hoped part of the surprise was because he could sense that she truly meant what she was saying but she wasn't going to expect too much. It only got you more hurt and disappointed.

She took his silence as a chance to present her case.

-"You must have already figured out that I've liked you for a long time. You'd be blind if you didn't. I even kissed you"- he seemed ready to interrupt her at that moment so she quickly added- "I know it wasn't in the best of circumstances but the truth is I had wanted to kiss you for a long time before that and that I still do"- she felt very vulnerable confessing that.

-"Yes, I noticed some of it. I'm not completely blind. Maybe one-eyed 'though. But Morgan, I think you should look for someone better and not settle for me. I'm just too jaded and cynical. I really don't know how you could even have a crush on me"- he certainly wasn't the King of Self-esteem.

"It's not simply a crush and please don't belittle yourself David. I just can't imagine spending time with someone that's not you. When I'm with you I feel like I can be myself and I love that we always manage to have fun together with the silliest of things. I'm also really attracted to you"- she felt herself blush a little"- I've wanted to kiss you all night, no, scratch that, all week. You can try to push me away but my feelings are not going away so easily. Please trust in my judgement. I know we can work together. Please, give it a try"- she looked at him with her big blue eyes trying to convey everything she felt to him.

* * *

**Hodges' POV**

He felt overwhelmed by her declaration. Everything this morning had gone against his initial, vaporised by now, plans and even his better judgement but he had been having such a great time even with their eager waiter. Now Morgan had told him how she felt and was looking at him with those clear puppy dog eyes of hers. His last thought was that he should never get a dog, not because of Kobayashi Maru, his cat, but because how weak he was to puppy dog eyes, before succumbing to them.

-"I like you too. I really really like you"- saying it aloud made him realise how true this words were- "I may or may not deserve you but I want you so, sure, let's give this a try".

Morgan caressed his cheek with her right hand and leaned towards him to kiss him. It was a sweet unhurried kiss. She tasted a bit spicy from the food but underneath there was that taste he hadn't forgotten from all those months passed, only less salty this time because instead of crying she had a beautiful smile on her face.

-"I can't believe I've caught the elusive David Hodges"- she said half laughing as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

-"Hey, I'm not a wild animal to be captured he teased back snuggling his face in the crook of her neck and kissing her softly there. She shivered slightly. He had always wanted to see how sensitive Morgan was but now wasn't the moment so he straightened himself. Morgan looked a bit disappointed.

-"Don't worry. I'm not rethinking this"- although maybe I should, said a part of his brain that he proceed to tie up, put on cement shoes and throw of the harbour of his brain- "I just thought we should eat the Enchiladas before they get cold. Maybe we should give a romantic show to pay our extravagant waiter"- saying that he cut a small portion of the dessert dipped it in the chocolate and cream and lifted the fork towards Morgan's mouth. She seemed pleasantly surprised and quickly caught on the game.

Not much later, they turned to "awwing" noises of happiness from their waiter. Hodges made an effort not to gag at his behaviour and instead adopted an overly sweet saccharine-like tone of voice.

-"Are you enjoying the dessert my little dove?"- she had tears in her eyes from suppressing the laughter at his charade- "Are those tears of happiness at the deliciousness of the _Enchiladas_ my sweet sweet love?

Morgan was doing everything she could to swallow the bit without choking because she was almost convulsing form laughter that she managed to cover as a coughing fit.

-"Oh, how adorable you too are. Young love is so sweet. I'm going there to get you some discounts. You have to return _otra vez_".

The moment he was out of ear, they both burst out laughing. It was one full minute of non-stop hilariousness. When one stopped, the other set them off again. Finally they managed to calm themselves and finish off the dessert. Mateo did bring them some discounts to use the next time they came and they asked for the bill.

-"Don't you feel kind of sorry for having tricked such a nice man?"- Morgan asked him.

-"Kinda. That's why I'm letting him a 20% tip"- he answered.

-"I should invite. I asked you to come"- she stated.

-"Well, how about we go Dutch"- it was a good compromise in his opinion.

-"Deal"- she took out her hand for him to shake and he took it and lightly kissed her palm where it was injured.

They paid, said their goodbyes to Mateo and were out of the door. No sooner had they walked a few feet along the way, that Morgan surprised him by pushing him against the wall and initiating a kiss. It started soft like the first although Morgan's hands were deeply clenching his shirt but it got rougher and hungrier. She introduced her tongue into his mouth, such a soft arousing little thing exploring his palate and tickling his teeth. He retaliated gaining momentary control and biting her lower lip gently provoking a moan that made him feel everything a thousands times more.

He wanted to learn every detail of her. He wanted to lick every inch of her body if that meant he got to hear more sounds like those she'd made but he knew they had to be back to the Lab. It was actually Morgan who had enough self control to stop the snogging session.

-"Damn it" - she took her vibrating phone out and answered a text on the offending object. "It seems Mitchell got a bit worried when I didn't immediately answer his pager. The ex-partner of Martin Atkins' plane has arrived and he is on his way to the Lab so regrettably, we should get going"- she certainly seemed annoyed at the interruption.

-"I'll wait until you finish your shift and I'll take you home.I promise to be a gentleman and only ask for a goodnight kiss"- her face lit up and that made everything perfect.

-"I didn't know you could be so smooth"- she teased- "I'll take you on the offer so no take-backsies".

So much had changed in the short time they'd left the Lab but they could still joke between themselves and that was probably the most important thing for him. He felt really alive and like 10 years younger. He couldn't believe his luck.

* * *

**A/N: **Again I'm really sorry for publishing this late. It's not even Thursday where I live... although it is Thursday by this website at least and that counts for something, right? My internal voice is asking me to stop deluding myself. I'm super tired I'm so going to fall asleep if I try to re-read it for typos so I'll do that tomorrow.

What do you think of this chapter? Did it feel forced? Are you happy they are together? Are they cute? Are they hot? Are they more boring than a 60's PSA? I totally picked one of the less romantic types of restaurants what made Hodges mistakenly feel safe. A pity I don't think I really pulled off Morgan's confession or Hodges' reaction. Well, tell me what you think on a review. I hope next week I'm a more reliable and responsible author. Have a really nice week and for those who get presents on January 5th or 6th, good luck with buying them and I hope you receive something you like a lot! See ya soon lovelies!


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